


A matter of principle

by DovahqueenOfSkyrim



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Comfort, Drama & Romance, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Humor, Plot, Post-Canon, Romance, Sibling Love, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-06
Updated: 2019-04-01
Packaged: 2019-07-07 18:20:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 26,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15913704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DovahqueenOfSkyrim/pseuds/DovahqueenOfSkyrim
Summary: About a year after Meridian, Tann asks Ryder to give up Reyes and either abandon or destroy Kadara. What he doesn't expect is that Clara simply refuses to obey and furiously quits her job as Pathfinder. Suddenly, the Initiative has one less human Pathfinder and Kadara Port earns a new citizen struggling with a life full of free choices and bad habits.





	1. Why can things never be easy?

**Author's Note:**

> I've never written any Fanfic before and it's been a while since I wrote any fiction at all (not to talk about publishing anything) but I just had a bad day and started this little experiment with a some headcanon of mine. I always thought that sooner or later Ryder's relationship with Reyes would just have to clash with the Initiative, especially Tann, and here we go. I'm no English native speaker so please be patient with me about some small mistakes I might oversee. Anyway, the whole story is really mostly an experiment even though I have an idea in mind where the story will lead but I just want to explore the characters a little bit more and have fun at writing. Hope you like it. :)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clara Ryder has a fight with Tann about a certain smuggler.

“Are you serious?” Clara gave Tann a furious glare though he didn't seem to be bothered by the angry woman in front of his desk. “I gave everything for the Initiative. I fucking died. Three times. And now you dare to ask me to give up the only thing I ever asked for in return?”

“I understand that this must be difficult for you, Ryder, but-“

“Bullshit!” Ryders voice filled the room and it took all her concentration not completely losing her temper. “If you would understand you wouldn't ask me to do this.”

“But!”, Tann went on as if she never interrupted him. “But Kadara grows to be a problem. _The Charlatan_ is a problem. And you being involved is a problem.”

“And since when do we whine about problems instead of solving them?” Clara crossed her arms. “You would be nowhere if I would ever have been stopped by a problem.”

“ _Ryder_.” Tann sighed. “It's a question of resources and you know it. If we don't do something now, we will anger our allies. Many Angaran goods are traded on Kadara and Evfra already complained about pirates stealing from the Resistance. Twice.”

“Then let them trade on a different planet!” Clara shrugged. “It's not like I haven't found enough for you!”

“Don't be childish.” Tann rolled his eyes. "I don't really have to explain to you that if the Initiative just leaves Kadara but the human Pathfinder keeps visiting Kadara Port as often as she cans, we look incompetent at best and inconsistent at worst. People will talk."

“Then let them talk. We have been through worse.”

“Come on, Ryder. You must see reason. Because we have been through worse I won't risk everything we achieved for some random smuggler.”

“That random smuggler has been the reason I haven't exploded or burnt out yet. Do I really have to ask Lexi for some report so even you get that?” She kept glaring at the Salarian but while most other people would have backed down under that look, Tann just sighed again.

“You have to see reason”, he repeated. “And I'm sure you will. Sooner or later.”

“That's your last word?”

“It is.”

Ryder took a deep breath and nodded. “Alright. Well, then fuck this shit and get yourself a new Pathfinder!”

She turned around and simply stormed off. She always had known that this could happen. That this probably would happen. If she was honest with herself, she just had expected it sooner. After they found Meridian, she had spent weeks just doing small missions and practically racing back to Kadara in between just because she had been afraid it might not take long until Tann would complain. But weeks passed and nothing happened. And slowly, she had allowed herself to believe that maybe this could work out. That between all this crap Heleus had thrown at her, she could be happy. That this could be easy. Just once. Just fucking once. Well, seemed like she was wrong. And suddenly unemployed. _Shit_.

Now, over a year later, Tann happened. That fucking bureaucrat just kept getting in her way. But not this time. This time, she wouldn't give up. If she had learned one thing since waking up from cryo it was that the good things in life were too rare and too precious to be just given up. Especially not Reyes. He might be a smug bastard but he was _her_ smug bastard and Clara had fought far too hard for that.

“SAM?”, she called the AI while nearly running through the crowd.

“Yes, Ryder?”

“Call the crew and tell them to return to the Tempest immedeately. I’ve got bad news and I want to be the one to explain it to them.” She sighed deeply. “They might get a new boss soon.”


	2. A matter of principle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clara breaks the new to her crew, Reyes and her brother. Not everyone reacts well.

They all reacted as Clara had thought. Peebee and Gil cursed in a very creative manner, Drack growled something about Tann being incredibly stupid, Kallo and Suvi seemed deeply concerned but didn’t say much, Jaal asked if Clara needed a hug which she denied while Cora, Liam and Lexi tried to reason with her. Just Vetra fell completely silent at least a little to Ryder’s surprise. Her whole crew always had commented Clara’s relationship with Reyes and her close ties to Kadara in one way or another. They had gotten used to it but still they all held very different opinions. Vetra was no exception, never had been even though the Turian had been more forthcoming than many of the others. Clara would have never thought that Vetra’s reaction to her quitting her job as a Pathfinder over Reyes would be just silence.

“Seriously, Ryder, he can’t expect from you to just throw away your life just because he likes to play criminal mastermind on a pirate planet.” Liam crossed his arms. “You have fought too hard for all of this.”

Clara sighed. “He didn’t ask me to ‘throw away my life’ and I’m not throwing away anything”, she replied flatly while leaning onto the desk in the Tempest’s meeting room. “This isn’t about Reyes – well, it is, but not because he asked me to do anything. He doesn’t even know yet that I quit my job. This is about Tann thinking he can invade my personal life and command me like a puppet. I told him once that my relationship with Reyes won’t be discussed if he doesn’t want to lose a Pathfinder. He ignored that and here we are.”

“But you … you love this job.” Cora shook her head. “You can’t be serious.”

“I wished there would be another way.” Clara looked down while sadness slowly crept over her. “But if I give in this time, I always will. Even if it wasn’t about Reyes, this would always be a matter of principle.”

“There must be-“

“Let it be.” For the first time since Ryder told her crew the news, Vetra raised her voice. “Ryder made her decision. We don’t have to like it but respect it.”

Clara smiled a little and nodded to her friend. “Thanks, Ve.”

Vetra shrugged. “I think you’ll regret this. Neither you nor Reyes are the domestic type and I think it won’t take long until you’re shooting at anything that moves through Kadara’s mountains, but it’s your decision.”

That was a response that just sounded like Vetra and Clara chuckled softly. “I’ll call you when I've shot something interesting.”

“I’m counting on it.” Vetra grinned. “And tell your boyfriend to keep his deals with me up. Just because Tann’s a pain in the ass, I’m not giving up some of my best routes.”

“So, our logistics officer is making deals with a well-known smuggler. Great.” Cora sighed and rubbed her temples. “Any idea how to explain this to our new boss?”

Clara rolled her eyes. “Don’t panic. I will be proposing Scott. Working for Nexus Security drives him crazy anyway and he’s more than qualified to do the job. And he won’t be asking questions.” She smiled. “At least not too many.”

“Does he know yet?” Liam tilted his head and raised his brows. “Or is it just us for now?”

“You, me and Tann. When none of you has any more questions, I’ll call Reyes and inform Scott.” She grimaced. “Wish me luck, my brother doesn’t try ripping off my head.”

“Oh, that would be funny.” Peebee giggled. “I’d like to see how Reyes kicks Scott’s ass afterwards.”

“Can’t say we agree on this.” Ryder sighed. “Alright, guys. You’re dismissed while I make some calls.”

It took a little work and some help from Vetra to convince everyone but finally the team left and Ryder finally stood alone in the Tempest’s round meeting room. For a second, she thought about just writing to Reyes from her Omnitool but decided against it. A simple mail seemed unfair to Reyes when she was just in the process of turning things not only for herself but also for him upside down. And even though she feared what he might say, she longed for the comforting sound of his voice. If it would been up to her, she would have just ordered Kallo to fly directly to Kadara but kidnapping a ship of the Initiative just after she quit her job would not only get herself but also her crew in serious trouble.

“SAM?”

“Yes, Pathfinder?”

“Call Reyes and while I talk to him, write a message to Scott that I quit my job and will be proposing him as my successor and that I will call later with more details after I sorted out a few things.”

“Of course, Ryder.”

It took a moment for the call to connect and another until Reyes really took it but finally his silhouette flickered inside the Tempest.

“Hello, _mi corazón_.” He smiled. “To what do I owe the honor of a video call from you? Business or _pleasure_?”

He emphasized the last word a little more than the rest and Clara grinned quietly to herself. “This is a open channel, so if I was up to pleasure I wouldn’t call you here, honey.” The grin disappeared, and she sighed. “I’ve done something that might sound stupid.”

“Oh, _now_ I’m curious.” Reyes chuckled. “I always thought I would be the one for bad decisions in this relationship.”

“I don’t think it’s a bad decision but a momentous one and right now, I’m not entirely sure about the consequences”, Clara explained. “In short: I quit my job and I wanted to tell you myself before Tann starts spreading an own version of the story.”

“You did … what?”

“Tann asked me to abandon or destroy Kadara and leave you and I … well, I kinda exploded.” She smiled awkwardly. “Seems like I just retired and will be suddenly having a lot of time.”

“Well, that’s … um …” Reyes cleared his throat. “I don’t wanna say that’s fantastic, I know what that job means to you, but …” He hesitated. “Well, I can’t say I’m not happy to know that you won’t be in the front line anymore. Do you already know what you’ll do now?”

A huge weight lifted from Clara’s shoulders and she relaxed a bit. She hadn’t been sure how Reyes would react – their relationship hadn’t always been easy – but him just asking about her plans and being happy she would be less in danger was a great relief.

“I don’t know”, she replied truthfully. “I thought about moving to Kadara? Even without me, Tann will probably abandon the planet and that sounds better than any planet claimed by the Initiative. And there would be somebody I’d like to spend some time with …”

He laughed. “Are you trying to ask me if you can move in?”

“Maybe?” She grinned nervously. “I mean, we never talked about this and it’s a little … surprising. I don’t want to force you taking in your crazy girlfriend.”

“Come home and we’ll talk in person about this.” He gave her a conspiratorial wink. “I’ve got an idea or two about this.”

Clara smiled. Home. Yes, that sounded just right. She might have found Meridian, built colonies all over Heleus and visited countless planets but Kadara was home. Reyes was home.

“Thank you.” She released a deep breath. “That’s a relief.”

“For you? Everything. I gotta go now, there is some … stuff going on here.”

“I love you.”

“Love you, too.”

Reyes ended the call and Clara rubbed her face a few times. Home. Soon she would be home. Soon all of this would be over if Tann wouldn’t realize soon that this was his mistake, not hers. And she doubted that the Salarian would see reason. He never did. And Clara was just tired of jumping any time he asked her to. She had done enough. Sacrificed enough. Did she have no right to be happy? Even if it just meant that a dumpster of a planet like Kadara remained untouched because the man she loved happened to be that dumpster’s shadow king?

“Where is she?!” A man’s voice was coming from below. “SAM? Tell me, so that I can rip my sister’s head off!”

With a soft curse Clara sighed. Scott. Of course. As if “wait until I call you and explain you everything” was so difficult to understand.

“I’m here!”, she shouted and moved downstairs. “Meeting room, Scott!”

After that, it took her furious brother not longer than a minute to reach her. He looked furious when he approached her and shook his head as he was coming nearer.

“How comes that I get a fucking automated message by SAM telling me that you quit your job? And why is Kandros asking me if it’s true that my sister threw everything away for that fucking smuggler?!”

Clara grimaced and rolled her eyes. “Tann’s such a gossipmonger.”

“So, it’s true? You quit because of him? Are you stupid, C?”

“Yes, it is true. I quit my job because Tann’s a pain in the ass and wanted me to leave Reyes and I refused.” Clara sighed. “I don’t like it either, but I won’t let Tann invade my private life. That’s none of his business and if he can’t understand that, I’m out.”

Scott took a deep breath. “Alright, I get it. You’re pissed. Fight with Tann over it but don’t throw away everything you achieved just for Reyes. I mean … Well, we both know he’s no good.  Eventually, he will break your heart and you know it. And then … C, you won’t have anything to return to.”

“Do you think I don’t know that?”, Clara snapped and glared at her brother trying to blink away the tears. “I know that if things go south with Reyes, I’ve got nearly nothing left. I know that. But he’s the one person who’s been keeping me sane over the last year. I can’t throw _that_ away. And even less, I will betray him just because Tann is panicking.”

Scott fell silent for a moment probably unsure what to say after that. Finally, he sighed deeply and pulled Clara into a tight embrace.

“Sorry, Sis”, he mumbled. “I’m just worried. I don’t want him to ruin your life.”

Clara smiled to his chest still fighting the tears. “I know. And I’m glad for it. But right now, I just need my little brother’s support and not your doubts. My own fears are already nearly killing me.”

“I’m sorry.” Scott sighed deeply. “When you’re on Kadara anyway for a while: Tell Reyes I’ll kick his ass if he hurts you.”

Clara laughed softly. “I dare you! What makes you think I won’t kick his ass on my own?”

“Alright, we’ll kick his ass together.” He grinned widely. “I’ll also ask Drack and Vetra to come. Reyes will never be the same.”

“Let’s hope, that never happens.” Clara ended the embrace and made a step back looking at her brother with a sad smile. “Can I ask you something?”

Scott raised a brow. “Sure.”

“How did you know that I’ll return to Kadara? Why not Meridian? Or any other planet?”

“Oh, that’s easy.” Scott chuckled. “I don’t like it, but you love that smuggler like crazy. And somehow you even like that dumpster Kadara. I don’t know if it lasts, but right now, the only place you belong right now is there.”

Clara grinned. “You’ll be a great Pathfinder, you know that?”

“If Tann takes me.”

“Oh, he will. Believe me.” Clara snorted sarcastically. “You’re qualified and if I propose you to Tann and the others, Kandros and Kesh will both support you. And if they bother to ask Cora or the rest of the crew they’ll probably threaten to riot if you won’t be my successor or something. They are already pissed and don’t want some random idiot being their new boss.”

“You seem like you thought this through.”

Clara shrugged. “I just know them. And I know Tann. He’s a bureaucrat but also a politician. If the old Pathfinder choses to retire on a planet full of pirates because she had a bad fight with the Initiative, he would seem like a tyrant if he tried to fight me. You’re a good choice and the conflict-free way to solve his problem with Kadara is just to abandon it. He’s an ass but not stupid enough to fight the Collective and me. That would cause a second uprising.”

“Would you really want that?” Scott frowned. “Fighting the Initiative?”

“No.” Clara shook her head. “I’d be most pleased if he would just let me go and leave me alone. But Tann doesn’t have to know that and as long as he fears me he won’t do something stupid.”

“You’re really serious about this.”

With a short nod she smiled. “I am. If Tann thinks, he can anger me, he can see what he does without me. And maybe I’ll have some peace. Finally.”


	3. Don't fuck this up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reyes is nervous about Clara's plans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First chapter from Reyes' POV! Tell me if you like it :D

The same moment Reyes ended Clara’s call he nervously rubbed his neck and started running up and down through his room upstairs of Tartarus. Clara was coming to Kadara. Maybe forever. They both had known that Tann would probably be bitching about their relationship sooner or later, but Reyes wouldn’t have thought that Clara would just quit like that. He had _hoped_ that they could endure Tann’s bullshit, but he hadn’t _expected_ _that_. And he wasn’t sure what to make out of it.

When he talked to Clara, he had seen the fear in her eyes and quickly understood that right now, she just needed someone to support her decision not someone to question it. Especially not him, since she basically had made this decision because of him if not even for him. Reyes simply didn’t want to fuck this up. Not now. Not after the year they somehow managed to keep the crazy, wonderful thing between them that they somehow called a relationship. And not after he nearly fucked this up once just because he was a paranoid fool who didn’t trust Clara with Sloane.

But that fight with Tann? That was some big shit. Clara loved her job. Reyes couldn’t count the times they had fought over it because she was clearly working too hard and too much. Every time, she returned to Kadara all bruised and with even darker circles under her eyes his heart seemed to break a little more. He knew her job was important and it was important to her but on some days he thought the worry might eat him alive. Just the thought of getting a call from Scott or Vetra telling him Clara’s last mission went horribly wrong was more than he could bear on his bad days.

And now she just quit. Well, she didn’t “just quit”, she “exploded” as she had put it. In front of Tann. Reyes grinned quietly. That sounded a lot like his Pathfinder. Clara had always been the passionate, overworking type but cross her and she’d burn you alive. Probably with the help of her brother and her crew. Tann should have learned that by now.

Still running up and down Reyes sighed. He could think about it forever, he didn’t know enough about the new situation for making any detailed decision about his reaction. Both as Clara’s partner and as the Charlatan. He opened his Omnitool and started a call to the one person who could help him right now.

“Bad news?”, Keema asked without any greeting when she took the call. “Or why can’t you wait for our meeting later.”

“Meeting’s cancelled”, Reyes informed her and took a seat on the couch. “I need you to investigate a few things and change some plans.”

“What’s happened?”

“Ryder. She had a fight with Tann and quit her job as Pathfinder because he ordered her to abandon or destroy Kadara Port.” Reyes grinded his teeth. “Seems like that idiot thought it would be a good idea to anger her and she proved him wrong but that’s all I know for now. I need you to ask your eyes and ears on the Nexus if they heard more.”

“Like what this means for us or what this means for your _sweetheart_?” Reyes nearly could her Keemas broad grin in her voice.

“Cut the crap, Keema”, he growled. “I want to know everything. Clara’s coming here and I don’t know when Tann will be letting her go but until then we need a plan for Kadara without the Initiative. I need to know everything that could help.”

“So, it’s both.” Keema chuckled. “Alright, I’ll send word when I know something. Shouldn’t be hard, Nexus personnel are always gossiping.” She made a short pause. “Oh, and Reyes? Good luck with this mess. You and Clara together on the same planet for longer than a week? This will be … interesting.”

She ended the call and Reyes let out a deep breath. What had Scott told him when he left the Nexus for the first time after his coma and Clara had brought him here? Don’t fuck this up.


	4. Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longer chapter this time but there was a lot that had to happen here. A bit of sibling love and some fluffly Ryder-Reyes-time incoming!

It took Tann three full days until he sent word that Clara should name a suitable successor. She wasn’t sure if he had hoped she would be coming back and begging for her job or if he just wanted to seem like he didn’t care that the Initiative’s beloved savior just had literally refused to obey him. She hadn’t left the Tempest much since she had returned from her fight with him but that didn’t keep Kandros, Addison or Kesh from appearing on the front door and trying to convince her to stay. Clara had answered them all the same: She would stay if Tann would accept that Kadara and Reyes were off limits – which Tann refused. And that way it came like it had to: Clara formally advised the Initiative and the Pathfinders to consider Scott as new human Pathfinder. Both Kandros and Kesh backed him up – supported by Addison and Cora who got consulted for her professional opinion just like Clara had suspected – and after another day Tann officially announced that Clara Ryder would be no longer the human Pathfinder and would be replaced by her brother Scott. They couldn’t take SAM from her without killing her so they just took him offline for her and for the first time in two years, Clara felt completely alone in her head. She was asked to leave the Tempest and though Scott offered to bring her to Kadara himself Clara refused and simply asked for a shuttle. Right now, she wasn’t in the mood for an awkward conversation between Scott and Reyes and just wanted to say goodbye to her loved ones on the Nexus and curl up in Reyes’ arms aftwerwards.

Clara tried not to show it but the moment she left the Tempest, she just wanted to cry.

After everything she did, everything she fought for, this should be the end? They simply switched off SAM and told her to leave? That was … petty. Even for Tann.

Scott held her hand while she waited for her shuttle and Jaal hugged her twice even though she told him both times that she was okay. Liam carried her bag and Vetra handed her a paper bag with coffee and chocolate over that looked like it might have left the Initiative’s hands in a not completely legal way. Clara smiled and thanked the whole crew for their support but inside she just wanted to scream. Was she really doing the right thing? Was leaving her job, her crew, her whole life behind for Reyes the right decision?

It was Vetra who saw the fear in Clara’s eyes and smiled to her. “You have been through things that were far worse. Enjoy your new free time with your smuggler. You earned it.”

Clara smiled and nodded but her friend’s words only helped a little. Thinking back to her fight with Tann, she would have probably made that decision again but that didn’t change that leaving everything behind hurt. A lot. And the moment she finally took her seat in the shuttle’s back she couldn’t help but crying.

 

 ---

 

When Clara finally left the Shuttle on Kadara, she had calmed herself. She set foot on the planet and firstly took a deep breath and inhaled the Port’s scent. It smelled like smoke, blood and some things she didn’t even want to know but somehow it always had been that scent that Clara had liked first about the Port. It smelled like a real city, something she hadn’t really seen since she arrived in Heleus. She made a step forward looking around for a familiar face but when she couldn’t find one Clara simply grabbed her bag and started moving through the crowd to the small apartment Reyes had since the Collective had taken Kadara Port. She hadn’t come far until two arms wrapped around her belly and pulled her towards their owner.

“Welcome home, Ryder”, Reyes whispered to her ear and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “I missed you.”

Clara closed her eyes and dropped her bag before turning around and wrapping her arms around his neck. “I missed you, too.”

She gave him a long and gentle kiss before pulling him as near as possible and just absorbing the warmth of his body, the sharp scent of his aftershave, just the comforting feeling of having him near. “You have no idea how much I longed for that. The last few days have been crap.”

He gave her a crooked smile while one of his hands was stroking her back. “I know, _mi amor_.”

“You know?” Clara raised her brows. “Then what’s the rumor mill running about? Are there already some horrible stories going around about me?”

“Only flattering ones.” Reyes grinned. “Keema’s been listening to some of the talking on the Nexus and right now people seem to take it as some grand love story.”

“What?! How?!”

“Hasn’t your crew told you?” He chuckled and leaned forth to whisper his words to hear right ear. “The human Pathfinder was so in love with a wicked smuggler that she even gave up her job to be with him when the cruel director asked her to leave her lover.”

Clara snorted and couldn’t help but grin widely. “You love that you’re the ‘wicked smuggler’ in this story, right?”

“Absolutely.” With a broad smile he freed himself from their embrace and grabbed her bag. “And I imagine Tann’s absolutely pissed about that story. That might be a bonus.”

“Smug bastard”, Ryder muttered but kept grinning.

“Yeah, but I’m _your_ smug bastard, remember?” He nodded in the direction in front of them. “Come on, let’s get you home.”

 

 ---

 

At night, Clara was laying wide awake in bed. Reyes was snoring softly next to her and though the warmth of his body had something calming, sleep wouldn’t come to her. Her mind wandered to the looks people had been giving her when she followed Reyes through the crowd of Kadara’s market. Clara had tried to ignore them but that didn’t mean she didn’t see them.

Of course, people were talking. Of course, they were curious what this new situation meant for them. And Clara wasn’t even mad at them. It was thanks to her that the Initiative had even thought about keeping at least some relations with Kadara Port and the Collective. Not to talk about having an own colony. Now that she thought about it, Clara had no idea what Tann had in mind for Ditaeon. Would he just abandon them because the colony had been her project? Or would he simply have a whole settlement transferred? Or – and that was what Clara feared most – would he really go to war with the Collective and claim Kadara Port for the Initiative? What would Scott do when that happened? What would her friends? She shook her head and put the thought aside. Surely, all of them would stop Tann in the first place. None of them would want to fight Clara and none of them was stupid enough to believe she would just back down if the Initiative should attack Kadara.

But what would that mean for her? If Tann would just ignore her from now on, what would she do? Even before Andromeda, she hadn’t had a free choice what to do with her life in ages. At first, it was her father who had his own plans with his children and later, it was the Alliance that practically ended her career just because Alec was the same ass as ever. Andromeda had been her only choice back then and before that, the Alliance had been her only choice to get away from her father. For the first time in her whole life, Clara Ryder could really choose what she wanted to do. And now? Now, she had no idea what to do with this freedom.

She glanced sideways to Reyes who still slept and sighed softly. Vetra was right, she couldn’t just suddenly try to live a normal life – or whatever came near to it – here on Kadara. She loved Reyes but they both would drive each other crazy if she wouldn’t find something to keep herself busy. Maybe shooting bandits in the badlands wasn’t such a bad idea after all? Or she could try to look more into the Remnant Tech on the planet? She always wanted to learn more about them but being the Pathfinder, she just hadn’t had the time for science. On the other hand, how should she really investigate something like the Remnants without any help? Without SAM or at least the resources of an organization like the Initiative?

With a small sigh Ryder grabbed her Omnitool from the floor next to the bed and scrolled through her messages. Nothing new since she last checked them in the shuttle, but she imagined that Scott was impatiently waiting for some news from her. She dimmed the Omnitool’s light and began to type a quick message.

_Landed on Kadara, got picked up by Reyes, all went well, no need to worry. Wishing you luck with your first mission on Elaaden tomorrow. Be careful, little brother, you’re all family I’ve got left. Miss you. C._

She must have picked a lucky moment because it took only a few minutes until a small light indicated that Scott had already answered.

_Feels strange that our roles are switched now, right? Now you’re the one to worry and I’m the one kicking asses. (But I’ll be careful, I promise.) Hope, your smuggler was nice to you and I’ve got no reason to come over and remind him of what happens if he hurts you. (Just kidding, I know that he’d be dead if he wasn’t nice. Oh. – Wait, is he dead?) Miss you, too. S._

Clara read the message again and grinned. Joking had always been a coping mechanism of the Ryder twins. When Scott had been going through a very bad breakup in the Milky Way and their jobs had keeping them apart for another two weeks, they had been writing dumb jokes to each other night and day. And when their father had been a paranoid control freak again, they simply started a contest who could play the best prank on him. Clara smiled. Making each other laugh had always been their way of telling the other that they cared. And that they worried.

_He’s alive and sleeping next to me, so don’t even start hoping and pay Vetra or Peebee or whoever you're betting with the money you must have lost on that bet. Write me after your mission so that I don’t have to worry anymore because that **sucks**. Love you, C._

Clara had just sent the message when Reyes next to her yawned loudly and turned around to look at her sleepily.

“Can’t sleep?”, he asked while sitting up and reaching out for her.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you.” Clara switched off her Omnitool and put it aside before letting him pull her near him. “My mind’s just busy with questions.”

He fell silent for a moment before asking the question that must have been on his mind since she arrived. “Do you regret it?”

Clara closed her eyes and sighed deeply. “No. I regret that it had to end this way but not that I made the decision. Tann thought he could control me, demand anything and I would just obey. Even if it hadn’t been about you – Sonner or later that just had to clash. I just had hoped it wouldn’t cost me my job and my crew.”

“I’m sorry, love”, he whispered but Clara shook her head.

“Not your fault. If anyone is to blame, it’s Tann. Oh, and I do blame him. That stupid bureaucrat will see what he gets from alienating me.”

“Only bad things. I guess Scott’s pissed, too.”

Clara chuckled. “Yeah, and the crew. But they will get used to it. Right now, they seem to worry more about me and I absolutely _hate_ that. I’m alive, I’m safe. They shouldn’t have to worry about me and more about their own lives.”

“Did you write to one of them just now?” He planted a small kiss on her neck and Clara could feel the grin on his lips against her skin. “Let me guess: Scott’s worried I might have broken you heart already and threatening me?”

 “He asked me if you had been nice or if I killed you already.” She laughed softly. “Told him that whatever bet he has going on, he’s losing it.”

“At least he thinks you can kick my ass on your own. That’s … progress? I’m not sure where it leads but I’m guessing that’s a good sign?”

“He’s trying. In his own way.” Clara sighed and turned around to look at Reyes. “At least he finally understands that I’m serious about you.”

The smile he gave her was literally warming her heart while Reyes wiggled his brows. “You’re serious about me?”, he echoed and grinned widely. “Is that the official term?”

Clara laughed and pinched him gently. “You know what I mean.”

“I do?”, he asked acting all innocently while leaning forward and kissing her neck again. “I’m not sure about it.”

“Should I show you?” Clara grinned and let herself sink back into the sheets pulling him down with her. He didn’t answer at once and just gave her that crooked smile of his she loved so deeply. That smile, him, being here near him. That was home. Safety. Something she hadn’t felt in so long. And maybe, she thought while Reyes began planting gentle kisses on her body, she would just have to learn what that meant again.

Feeling at home. Safe. Loved.


	5. “You remember that time I had to fight off a pissed Scott Ryder and a Krogan?”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryder is begging Keema for work and Reyes has a surprise.

“Come on, Keema. It’s not like you don’t know I’m good at shooting people.”

The Angara laughed sarcastically. “Oh, I know you’re fabulous at shooting people”, she replied flatly and crossed her arms. “But I won’t hire neither the _former Pathfinder_ nor _the Charlatan’s girlfriend_ to do dirty work any random idiot with a gun could do. If something happens to you, both Reyes and your friends at the Initiative will be after me and I’m not putting up a fight with your brother or your crew.”

“They aren’t my crew anymore and you’re worrying too much. They know I need something to keep me busy and shooting bandits is a great way to do that.” Clara grimaced. “Please, Keema. I need to do something. I haven’t had so much free time since school. It’s driving me crazy.”

“You do remember what happened the last time you and I worked together, right?” Keema tilted her head. “That Remnant Architect that nearly killed you? And how I suddenly had to fight off a really pissed Scott Ryder together with a fucking Krogan? The Krogan that’s now even under Scott’s _command_? Not to mention how Reyes held the whole thing up against me.”

Clara rolled her eyes. “That was _once_! And I did that tired and overworked between two missions elsewhere. Now I’m all rested and terribly bored.”

“No.”

“Come on! I’m not asking for killing an Architect! Just a small team and some bandits I can shoot for you.”

“I said ‘No’, Ryder.”

“Please, Keema. I’ll do anything you give me.”, Clara begged while Keema turned away from her. “I don’t care if it’s stupid or easy, just give me _something_.”

Keema stopped in her movement and turned back to Ryder narrowing her large eyes. “Anything?”

“Anything.” Clara sighed. “I just need something to do.”

“Alright …” Keema hesitated and opened her Omnitool. “I might have something for you. There’s a scientist down in the slums who’s been working for us, but I haven’t heard from her in a while. Might be nothing but I need somebody to look after her. You wanna have the job?”

“A babysitter-job? Seriously?”

Keema shrugged. “You don’t have to take it but that’s all I’ll give you.”

“Fine.” Clara grimaced again and glared at Keema which the Angara ignored. “Less glorious or exciting than saving the world but I’ll do it. Send me the details and I’m off searching your scientist.”

“Great.” Keema grinned. “Have fun. Or don’t. Just do the job.”

“Sure”, Clara growled and turned away. “Consider it done.”

“Oh, and Ryder?”, Keema called her back when Clara had already reached the door. “If you want to shoot something, ask him for a job yourself. Talk to him and sort this out. He’ll understand.”

 Clara snorted. “What makes you think I wouldn’t talk to him without your advice?”

“That you came to me instead of asking him in the first place.” Keema laughed. “And that you seem so eager to take anything. I think, you’re ashamed and don’t want him to know.”

That hit near home and Clara sighed in frustration. Why the hell was Keema so fucking good in reading people’s minds? Didn’t Angaras have problems picking up the subtle way humans were expressing their emotions? Jaal had never managed to read her thoughts like Keema. Or was that just him?

Clara shook her head and cleared her throat. “Yeah. Whatever.” She raised one hand and waved at Keema without looking. “See you.”

With that she left the room leaving a softly laughing Keema behind. Clara cursed her quietly and put on a grim face while leaving the Collective’s Head Quarter and walking over Kadara’s market. She hadn’t expected much from her meeting with Keema but that went even worse than she had feared. She would never have thought that Keema really would just _refuse_ to let her work for the Collective in the badlands. Clara was perfect for shooting idiots out there. For fuck’s sake, she hadn’t been doing much else than shooting random assholes all over Heleus in two years! And now, Keema had the nerve just to send her away and search for some scientist who probably simply overslept and forgot to answer some calls. Great.

Clara stopped and opened her Omnitool to read the details Keema had wanted to send her. There were three more messages in her inbox which she already had been ignoring for a while. One came from Scott, another from Vetra and the third one from Liam. All of them had been sent over the last day and there would be probably be even more by the end of the day, but Clara hadn’t managed to find the courage to read them. It had been two weeks since she arrived on Kadara and they still worried. A lot. Scott commanding them now probably wasn’t helping. Neither did that Clara felt like a total loser for struggling with finding her new path here.

The moment she wanted to open Keema’s message, another popped up and Clara frowned when she noticed it came from Reyes. She opened the mail and read the text.

_Got a surprise for you. Meet me later at my shuttle in the Port? In an hour? R._

Clara raised her brows. A surprise? Meeting him at his shuttle? What was he up to?

_Sure. Got something to do first and might be late but I’ll be there. See you. C._

She quickly typed the answer and opened Keema’s message afterwards. There wasn’t much the Angara had sent her but a name and a Navpoint. The scientist’s name was Violet Murray, she originally came to Kadara with the settlers for Ditaeon but left the colony shortly after her arrival. Afterwards, she had built a lab in Kadara’s slums and started working for the Collective. The Navpoint seemed to belong to her lab that according to Keema also was her apartment.

Clara sighed. Great. A workaholic scientist who probably was just buried in her research and forgot to call back. After literally saving nearly everyone and everything in this damn cluster, that was … a step back. But after two weeks just watching the same movies, strolling around the market and writing messages with her friends, Clara was just _bored_. Reyes was busy with Collective-stuff he couldn’t talk about because at least half of it was illegal and he didn’t want Clara being involved and apart from him there weren’t many people she even knew on the planet. Not to talk about those like Kaetus who probably were still angry because of the part she played in ending Sloane’s reign. Clara hadn’t lied to Keema that she just needed _something_ to do. Anything keeping her busy until the right opportunity would present itself to her and she could do something more interesting.

Quickly lifting one side of her leather jacket Clara checked her gun as she reached the elevator to the slums. She probably wouldn’t need it, but she wasn’t stupid enough to think that Kadara’s slums were suddenly safe. Drug addicts, thieves, robbers – There were dangerous and desperate people everywhere down there. Most of them knew Clara as the former Pathfinder and wouldn’t dare to touch her but she wouldn’t take a risk anyway.

Finding the apartment wasn’t difficult. The Navpoint led Clara to a small container on the second level and next to the door she noticed a small sign that signalized Kadara’s people that this place was under the protection of the Collective. This was the right door. Clara knocked a few times but didn’t get an answer.

“Violet? It’s Clara Ryder. I’m here for Keema. She’s worried about you!”

No answer. Clara hammered against the door another time and repeated the message but that didn’t help either. With a deep sigh she reached for the door and tried to just open it. Much to her surprise it just glided aside so that she could just enter the apartment behind it. The room she now found was a pure chaos. Desks thrown aside, broken glass on the floor, even a small bookshelf in the corner had been knocked over.

“Shit.”

Clara started searching the room but the woman she was searching for was nowhere to be found. Even her research seemed to be gone. No notes, no diary, no data carrier. The old terminal’s screen opposite the door had been broken by somebody but when Clara tried to switch it on and access it from her Omnitool instead, it asked for a code. Clara tried a few she knew could sometimes break the security protocols of those old models, but none worked. She cursed to herself and pulled out a set of small screwdrivers from her jacket to open the terminal’s back. A few minutes later, she held the hard drive in her hands and smiled with satisfaction. Finally, the years of disassembling terminals for hacking Alec’s security systems when she got grounded payed off again. Now she would just need another terminal to read the data.

She put the drive with the screwdrivers in her jacket and called Keema from her Omnitool.

“Done already?”

“Depends”, Clara replied flatly.

“On what?”

“What you call ‘done’. I’ve been at the lab but it’s all wrecked. No trace of Violet.”

“Shit.” Clara could her how Keema let go of a few more curses in Angaran her translator couldn’t fully pick up. “Any idea where she might be?”

“Nope. Whoever made that chaos here seems to have taken her notes with them. They even tried to destroy the terminal.”

“Tried?”

“Well, that person was an idiot and just smashed the screen.” Clara shrugged though Keema couldn’t see that. “Got the data drive.”

“Great. Bring it to me.”

Suddenly, an idea sparked in Ryder’s mind and a broad grin appeared on her face. This might just be the kind opportunity she was waiting for.

“No.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” From one moment to another, Keema sounded angry. “Don’t you dare to mess with me, Ryder!”

“I’ll give you the drive if you’ll give me a _real_ job.”

“I’m serious, Ryder!”

“Oh, I’m not joking either. I want a job and you want the drive. Let’s trade one thing for another.”

“You do realize that you’re sleeping with my boss? That you’re really also refusing to hand the drive over to him?”

“Oh, suddenly, he’s your boss again? Nice to know that you’re hiding behind him anytime I’m not obeying.”

“ _Clara_.”

“Think about it, Keema. I gotta go now. See you!”

She ended the call and didn’t even give the Angaran the opportunity to answer. This would probably have some consequences and Keema Dohrgun wasn’t really the kind of person anybody should anger on Kadara, but for now, Clara didn’t care. Better angering Keema a little bit and getting some real work to do than playing nice and being bored forever. And nearly everything was better than being bored like she was right now. Still grinning, Clara left the apartment, closed the door and got on her way back to the Port to meet Reyes. If she did this right, it wouldn’t take long until she would be back on top. She just had to be patient – though that absolutely wasn’t one of her strengths.

 

When Clara reached the docking bay Reyes was already waiting for her. He was casually leaning against his shuttle and grinned widely when he saw her raising a hand to wave at her. Clara smiled and waved back while walking faster.

“You’re late. I’m deeply wounded”, Reyes informed her jokingly when she finally reached him, and Clara rolled her eyes.

“Told you I had something to do first.”

With a soft chuckle, he pushed himself away from the shuttle and came near enough to pull her into a quick kiss. “Well, you’ll have to make up for it.”

Clara smiled to his lips and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Gladly.”

 “Ready for your surprise?” He nodded to the shuttle, but she just shrugged.

“I guess? It wouldn’t be much of a surprise if I knew anything about it.”

Reyes rolled his eyes which earned him a soft laugh from Clara and freed himself from their embrace. “Let’s just go, smart-ass.”

They got on the shuttle and while Reyes took the pilot’s seat Clara took the one next to him. With a short jolt they left the ground and started gliding through Kadara’s air. Clara watched Reyes carefully as he flew them over the Port’s rooftops towards the badlands and realized that she had never seen him fly any ship before. There had been that one time she had given him a ride in the Nomad which he said he deeply regretted because Clara drove “like a fucking maniac” but until today it never had been _him_ taking _her_ somewhere.

“What?” Reyes laughed. “Why are you watching me like that, Ryder? Fearing I could make a crash-landing?”

But Clara shook her head. “The opposite, actually. I’m surprised how good you’re at flying. The Initiative could have put you to fantastic use.”

He sighed and looked straight up front. “Yeah. Probably.”

“You never told me why you left during the uprising on the Nexus.” Clara raised her brows. “I checked the records but couldn’t find much.”

“Nothing special I guess. The uprising was a mess.” Reyes shrugged. “And what makes you think I didn’t just leave because I revolted and was thrown out?”

“I think you’re too clever for that”, she replied truthfully. “From what I know about the uprising, everything was crap, but nobody could guarantee that a revolt wouldn’t make things worse and you’re not stupid enough to take _that_ risk. My guess is you left during the chaos but didn’t cause it.” She paused. “Am I right?”

“Close”, he admitted. “The Nexus was a mess, and everybody knew it. Sooner or later, people would die if we didn’t set foot on a planet and started making some arrangements with the locals. But the leadership wanted to wait. Wait for the Archs, wait for the Pathfinders. Sloane and a few others revolted and when hell broke lose I saw my chance, took my shuttle and left together with a few others who just wanted to get away. There were rumors that some of us wanted to flee to Kadara and make things better and well, that’s how I landed here.” Reyes shrugged. “Nothing special, really.”

“Yeah, but you could have had a great career. No working in the shadows, no hiding, no fights with Nexus leadership.”

He grimaced. “I like working in the shadows. And if you hadn’t shown up, the Nexus would have died by now. Or if you had shown up and I would have stayed before, you probably wouldn’t know me now.” With a small smile he looked at her for a second. “I wouldn’t want that.”

That was an answer that made Clara grin widely. “Caution, Vidal, I might get the impression you’re a romantic.”

“Oh, I am”, he replied. “But only around you.”

Clara’s heart was jumping up and down and she leaned towards him to give him a small kiss on the cheek. “I love you, too.”

He smiled smugly and looked outside the front window. “We’re almost there.”

Clara followed his look with her eyes and saw a plateau just above one of the many small lakes of Kadara’s mountains. It didn’t look completely natural and somebody had put up a few metal plates and props to expand the smaller area the mountain naturally provided here. Reyes took a turn with the shuttle and carefully landed the ship right in the middle of the plateau.

“And what’s here?”, Clara asked in confusion, but Reyes just gave her a small wink and pointed at the shuttle’s doors.

“Wait for it.”

They got outside and the moment, Clara’s feet touched the rocky ground she held her breath in surprise. The view from here was breathtaking. They were in quite a distance from the Port but from up here she still could see its rooftops and the lights glowing above the mountains. Below, the valley extended between them and the town, its countless lakes glittering in the evening sun.

“Wow.”

Reyes laughed and took her hand. “I knew, you would love it.”

“That’s … amazing.” She shook her head still gazing fascinated over the scenery in front of her. “I nearly forgot why I always thought Kadara was one of the most beautiful planets I’ve ever seen.”

“Yeah, and since _someone_ fixed the thing about the acid water…” He grinned at her. “It’s actually quite a decent place to live.”

“It never was as bad as everyone acted about it”, Clara mumbled without looking away from the mountains and grinned. “I mean, the planet was a dumpster and the Port still is, but … I don’t know. I guess, I’ve seen worse dumpsters to live on.”

Reyes chuckled softly and wrapped his arms around her from behind his chin resting on her shoulder. “That’s one way to put it.”

She leaned against him and closed her eyes. “Thanks”, she whispered. “That’s a great surprise.”

“Oh, that wasn’t the surprise.” She could feel his grins against her skin and opened her eyes again. “Just a small part of it.”

Clara frowned and turned around to look at him. “So, what’s the rest?”

“This”, he replied grinning and took a few steps back spreading his arms wide. “The mountain is all ours. If we want it.”

“Wait … what?!” Clara’s eyes were suddenly wide open and she stared astounded at Reyes. “You claimed a whole mountain? How?!”

The grin on his lips grew even wider. “There are _some_ perks to being Kadara’s shadow king.”

“You don’t say”, she replied sarcastically and shook her head. “And what are you going to do with it?”

“We”, he corrected her, “can do whatever we like with it. But I thought – since you seem to be staying here for a while – we’d build us something here. A home?”

 _A home._ The words echoed for a moment in Clara’s mind. Did he realize what he was saying there? What he was offering her? How much that meant to her? Of course, it probably meant even more to him. His history was as complicated as hers, just with a lot more paranoia because of being the Charlatan. Still, the thought of what he seemed to be willing to give her – It simply flashed her. She hadn’t had a real home since her mother’s death. The Tempest had been the thing that had been closest to something similar but that still had been just a ship. And that was gone now.

“Clara?” Reyes tilted his head and smiled nervously. “ _Mi amor_?”

From one second to another, she had crossed the distance between them and practically flung her arms around his neck pulling him into a long, deep kiss. When their lips parted again, Reyes laughed softly.

“I take it, you like the idea?”

“Yeah”, she replied in a husky voice. “And you’re …”

“A smug bastard?”, he offered jokingly as she was searching for the right word. Clara grinned back and nodded.

“Yes. But you’re _my_ smug bastard.”

“That’s great because you happen to be the only crazy heroine whose smug bastard I want to be.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wanted to say: I kinda love the sentence from Keema I took for this chapter's title. This is a little bit of a canon divergence and more headcanon but I always imagined that Ryder doing dangerous missions on Kadara and work together with Keema as the Collective's representative would spark a situation like that in which Keema has not only her boss but also Scott and Ryder's friends worried at her doorstep because Ryder got injured. See you next chapter!


	6. Trust Issues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reyes has to deal with Clara's fight with Keema.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another Reyes-Chapter. Next one will be Clara again but I like the idea of having different angles on their story by different perspectives. :)

When Reyes checked his Omnitool on the next morning, his inbox was filled with messages by Keema. The first few just were just asking him to call her but when he hadn’t answered because he had been with Clara, she had dropped that strategy and simply addressed her problem directly. And it seemed to have a very familiar name: Ryder.

_Violet’s missing and Ryder’s got the data drive from her terminal in her lab but refuses to hand it over. Fix this because that’s the only lead we have. K._

Reyes frowned. How did Clara even get that drive? Did she even know Violet? He raised his head brows raised and pointed at his Omnitool. They were standing in the kitchen of Reyes’ apartment in the Port. It was early morning, none of them was fully dressed yet and until now they just had been quietly drinking their coffee and scrolling through the messages.

“Care to tell me what that’s supposed to mean?”, he asked while Clara was pouring herself another cup. She grimaced.

“Keema’s such a snitch.”

“So, you have Violet’s data drive?” Reyes straightened up from his position leaned over the kitchen counter and shook his head. “Why?”

With a dismissive wink, Clara tilted her head and rolled her eyes. “It’s nothing, really. Just a little fight I had with Keema. Give her a few hours and we’ll have sorted this out.”

“That’s no explanation, Ryder.”

She sighed. “Yeah, well, I went to Keema yesterday and asked for work, she said no. So, I told her I would do anything, and she told me I could look after a scientist she hasn’t heard from in a while. I did but the lab was wrecked, and I had to disassemble the terminal to get the drive. I called Keema and told her she’d get the drive if she’d give me a real job.” Putting her cup to her lips, she shrugged again. “Like I said, it’s nothing.”

“Wait – You asked _Keema_ for a job?”

Reyes frowned. That was … unexpected. Clara had always accepted the Collective as the currently best choice for Kadara but there was a reason why they had agreed that he wouldn’t talk too much about his work. While Reyes saw the Collective as foundation for building something greater, Clara first and foremost had seen the criminals supporting these structures. She never had been stupid enough not to notice the good the Collective could do but at the same time she also had been … skeptical about it.

“I thought you didn’t want to work for the Collective?”

“Yeah, I said that but if it’s going crazy or working for you, I’ll work for you.” She avoided looking at him and nervously stared at her Omnitool. “I just need something to keep me busy, alright?”

Reyes hesitated to answer and fell silent for a moment. He was no fool, he knew that Clara was struggling with her new life. The first few days had been great – well, they practically hadn’t got out of bed until Keema literally called him and threatened to come over and drag him to work herself – but after that, Clara’s mood slowly had gotten worse and worse. She was tense and strained – a mood Reyes knew quite well from her – but differing from her usual irritability, Reyes couldn’t ease it just by calming her and remembering her that she was safe and loved. Normally, that kind of mood was rooted in fear or stress because of her job and she just needed a safe haven. Now? Now, it seemed to be this safety and peace that was driving her crazy.

“Why not ask me?”, he finally expressed the one thing more and more bugging his mind. “Why Keema?”

Clara groaned. “Because I wanted to avoid this conversation.”

She put down her cup and with another sigh, she slowly moved towards him and pulled him into an embrace. “It’s not about you, really. I … I just …” She didn’t finish the sentence and bit her lip. “Just give me time.”

“I know. But you just could have asked anyway. I could just have told Keema to give you something.”, he replied and grinned. “I mean, we’re still struggling with cleaning the badlands from the rest of Sloane’s people and you’d be fantastic at hunting them down.”

She raised her brows and her green eyes widened. “You’d agree? I thought you wanted me out of trouble.”

“Oh, I’d _love_ to keep you out of trouble, _mi amor_.” Reyes chuckled softly though she was right, and he could feel that ball of fear in his chest growing again. “But I know, you and me, we’re both not really the people for a trouble-free life.”

She replied to his words with a small laugh and smiled. “What got you the impression?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” He shrugged jokingly. “Could have been the thing about you nearly shooting me because I was an idiot who kept things from you.”

“Yeah. Sorry about that.” She grinned. “But you really were an idiot.”

He didn’t answer but kissed her gently. He knew, if he wasn’t careful, either his relationship or his organization could blow up and though he had sworn himself to never let his work come between him and Clara ever again, he had to do something about her fight with Keema. Clara was still walking through Kadara Port as if she still was the mighty Pathfinder not realizing that these times were really gone and she couldn’t just force people to obey because they didn’t want trouble with the Initiative. At the same time, he couldn’t tell her that if he didn’t want to be cruel and just hurt her because he knew she wasn’t ready yet to accept that.

“Will you give the drive to Keema?”, he asked carefully observing her reaction as Clara freed herself from their embrace.

“I will.” She rolled her eyes. “If Keema sees reason and gives me the job I want.”

“She doesn’t like being forced to do anything.”

“I have to force her because she’s just panicking. Told me she didn’t want trouble with Scott, my friends or you if something happened to me.”

“Can you blame her?” Reyes raised his brows. “Your friends aren’t really the forgiving type. We’ve been together for over a year and it’s been just a few weeks since the last time Drack threatened to kill me and hide my body if you asked him to. And Scott still mistrusts me even though we met after the whole mess with Sloane.”

“They’re just talking. They wouldn’t really _do_ something”, Clara insisted. “You know that.”

With a sarcastic snort, Reyes turned away to grab his cup from the kitchen counter. “ _I_ know that _Scott_ knows that you’d burn him alive if he hurt me, _mi amor_. At least if he did it without your permission.”

“You’re exaggerating.”

“I’m not and you know it.”

She snorted but didn’t disagree with him. When Reyes turned back to her, he could see that she was biting her lip, something he noticed she always did when she was doubting herself.

“Just give the drive to me and I’ll hand it over to Keema and tell her that I want you to hunt down Sloane’s people in the badlands”, he offered. “You won’t even have to talk about it with her yourself.”

“Yeah, but that’s the point. _You_ ’d be doing it.” Clara grimaced and took a step back from him. “I don’t want my partner solve my problems anytime things get difficult just because he happens to be this dumpster’s shadow king.”

“Ever thought that if I’m this dumpster’s king that means you’re its queen?”

“Don’t try talking me over with that silver tongue of yours. It’s not about you, I just don’t want to depend on anyone.”

She crossed her arms and looked grimly at him, but Reyes couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s what this is about? You think _you_ could _depend_ on _me_?”

“That’s not funny, Vidal”, she growled. “I’m serious.”

“Oh, it is funny, _mi corazón_.” He still chuckled but tried putting up a straight face again when he met the furious look in her green eyes. “You’re one of the least dependent people I know. From anyone. Anytime. – I mean, seriously, Ryder, you have more trust issues than me and that’s really impressive.”

“Still not funny.” Her face darkened even more, and Reyes sighed.

“Can’t believe I am the one saying this, but here we go”, he murmured half to himself, half to her. “Clara. _Let people care about you_. Let them – Let me help you. I know, the last two years you had to help everyone and nearly no one asked about you but that’s changed now. For fuck’s sake, you aren’t Pathfinder anymore, you can’t just run around and do everything on your own.”

“Says who?”

Clara grinded her teeth probably trying to stare Reyes down, but he didn’t care. God knew, he loved that woman. So much that on some days, it frightened him. But at the same time, he wouldn’t just watch as she was breaking just because she was too stubborn to take a little bit of help.

“Please, Clara, don’t be childish.”

For a moment, she just pressed her lips together staring at the floor between them. When she raised her head again and looked at him, Reyes could see that she was fighting tears in her eyes.

“Do you know who said that to me, too?”, she whispered. “Tann. The moment I told him that I wouldn’t leave you just because he thinks you’re a problem, he tried reason with me. Told me I shouldn’t be childish. Suggesting that my feelings weren’t important enough to be cared about.”

Reyes cursed quietly to himself. “Clara, I’m sorry.”

He reached out for her, but she dodged away shaking her head. “No”, she replied. “I’ll give that stupid drive to Keema. Whatever. Don’t care. But I would have wished you would have understood.”

“Clara”, Reyes tried calling her back, but Ryder just turned around quickly walking out of the kitchen back into the bedroom. When he followed her, she was already nearly dressed and grabbed her leather jacket from the floor.

“See you later, Vidal.”

“Listen, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I didn’t know …” Again, he reached out for her but again she dodged away and shook her head.

“No. Just—” She took a few steps away from him. “Just let me go. Okay? I just wanna go now and be alone.”


	7. Broken, but not alone

_Don’t be childish._

How Clara fucking hated that sentence. It always made her think of her father and she hated that more than anything. _“Don’t be childish, Clara. Be a good girl. Don’t do this, don’t do that.”_ She could nearly hear Alec’s voice behind her and that just lead to a familiar urge to scream at somebody. That had been how she had spent a lot of her teenage years – wanting to scream at her father. Sometimes she even had but Alec didn’t seem to care much. He just had looked sternly at her and asked her not to behave childish. He never understood why his daughter - and sometimes also his son - had hated him so much. For a long time, Clara had thought it just had been because he didn’t care about his children. Because he didn’t care about her. At least until he made her Pathfinder.

Hearing that one sentence that symbolized all the things she had hated about her upbringing from Reyes had … hit her. It hurt. That wasn’t his fault, Clara knew that, and he didn’t want to wound her like he had – he couldn’t even guess what hurt her so much – but that didn’t change the fact that Clara’s heart was aching from the moment, the words had left his lips.

“Fuck you, Dad”, she mumbled to herself and rested her head on her knees.

She had climbed up onto the roofs of Kadara Port and now stared on the horizon far away. Here she had kissed Reyes for the first time – well, if she didn’t count the one on Sloane’s party which only had been a distraction – and here she always had felt safe. Over the last year, she had been here a couple of times. Sometimes to think, sometimes just to get away from everything but always to have a moment of peace in the middle of the chaos that had been her life. The life that now belonged to her brother.

Scott. How much she missed her brother in moments like these. Missed how he would have wrapped his arms around her until she would have felt better. If he could ever visit her here? Tann didn’t seem to have decided Ditaeon’s fate yet and the last two weeks had been quiet, but sooner or later the Initiative would cut their strings to the Port and maybe to the whole planet. Coming here would become difficult for her twin, at least for a few years. Should Clara really build a home with Reyes on that mountain he had shown her, Scott might never see it.

Without thinking, Clara opened her Omnitool and called her brother. She knew he was on Havarl right now and probably wouldn’t even take the call, but she had to try it anyway. Suddenly, she longed for his voice. His support. For the calming thought of her brother.

“C, I hope this is important”, Scott growled when he took the call and yawned. “I had only three hours of sleep and I’m already feeling like shit.”

“Ah, fuck. Sorry. I can call another time. It’s just…” She hesitated and shook her head. “It’s nothing.”

“What’s wrong?” Scott yawned again, and Clara could hear that he was sitting up in bed. “Did Reyes something stupid?”

“It’s not his fault.” She sighed and closed her eyes. “We had a fight – nothing special, really – and he said something Dad used to say and that …”

“… hit near home and he didn’t even realize it”, he finished her sentence. “Crap.”

“Yeah, crap.” With another deep sigh she fell silent for a moment and bit her lip before speaking again. “Do you think he ruined us? Dad, I mean?”

He laughed sarcastically. “Definitely. Or would you call one of us even distinctively normal?”

“I’m serious, Scott.”

“I know, but I can’t give you the answer you're hoping for and you wouldn’t believe me if I tried to lie to you.” He sighed and paused. “Let’s put it that way: I think, you and me, we were fucked the moment Mum got sick. But we can’t change that and from what I know, Reyes is just as screwed-up as you are. He won’t be chased away just because you’ve got a few … issues.” Clara could hear how Scott chuckled. “Well, at least as long as you don’t try shooting at him again. Heard he didn’t take _that_ too well.”

Clara laughed softly. “No, he didn’t. That Drack still seems to threaten him regularly doesn’t help either.”

“Oh, the old man really did that and didn’t tell me? Told him he should threaten Reyes only together with me because it's even cooler if an old Krogan is standing behind you and looking fierce. - _That_ means Drack’s in trouble.”

“You could never fight him. Even if you tried.”

“Who says I’m fighting him? I’ll just tell Kesh something he doesn’t want her to know”, he joked. “That’s far more effective.”

Clara grinned. “Oh, that’s cruel.” She paused. “Thank you.”

“Always, Sis”, Scott replied softly before yawning again. “So, how’s Kadara apart from the normal Ryder-Drama?”

“It’s … okay”, Clara replied hesitatingly. “I mean, I think I’ll go crazy if I don’t find something to do soon but that’ll work out … somehow. – What about you? How’s Havarl?”

Scott groaned. “Hot. And the wildlife keeps trying to kill us which is far less cool than I thought. And I think Cora hates me because I forced her to leave the Tempest. Jaal liked it though.”

“It’s an Angaran planet.” Clara grinned widely remembering how disgusted Jaal had seemed anytime they had visited Kadara and how happy when they landed on Havarl. “Jaal loves travelling there.”

“Yeah, but it won’t last long. We’re leaving in a few days.” Scott sighed. “Wanted to call you anyway. Tann’s sending me to Kadara. Securing Ditaeon.”

“Fuck.” Clara froze. “What’s the plan?”

“At first, he wanted me to claim the Port for the Initiative but Kandros and Kesh blocked that idea because they feared they had to go to war with you then and they don't want the scandal of openly fighting the Initiative's first heroine. Now, Tann wants to transfer the colony to Habitat 7. The last few tests there were … well, _okayish_ and Nexus leadership think that the planet can be used.”

“So, he wants to transfer a whole colony? After over a year?”

“Guess so. Addison is furious as far as I know, but she knows that Ditaeon has to be _somewhere_ and if Tann wants to cut ties to Kadara …”

“… she can’t do anything about it if she doesn't want to lose the settlers.”

“Exactly.”

“Shit.” Clara rubbed her neck and sighed. This had to happen. Sooner or later, Tann had to make his move. And he did. “Will you be in trouble if I tell Reyes?”

“Probably, but I can handle that.” Scott snorted. “Tann already thinks I’ll tell you anyway, so, it doesn’t really matter. Tell him. Oh, and that he’s lucky I love my sister more than I mistrust him.”

The said sister smiled and instinctively touched the large tattoo on the right half of her neck from the ear down. The same tattoo Scott carried on his left and which they had gotten together a few years before Andromeda when they had parted ways because of their careers for the first time. “To the end of the universe and beyond. Or until Dad catches us. Remember?”

“And since Dad can’t catch us anymore, it’s just the end of the universe”, he confirmed. In the distance, a woman’s voice – probably Cora – called after him and Scott quickly replied, he’d come to a minute.

“Looks like you’re the busy one now”, Clara said and grinned. “I’m very proud of you, Scotty. You know that, right?”

“Yeah.” She could nearly hear him grin back. “And I’m proud of you, too.” Cora called another time and Scott let out a curse before shouting back “Just give me a sec!”. Afterwards, he sighed. “We’ll see each other at the end of the week. Don’t set Kadara on fire until then.”

“I won’t, and you be careful. Miss you.”

“You know, being careful isn’t really part of the Ryder family’s DNA, but I’ll try. But now, I’ll really gotta go before Cora kills me. Miss you, too!”

The second after that, he already had ended the call and with a sigh, Clara closed her Omnitool again and started staring at the horizon again. Was Scott right? Clara always had known that she was screwed-up. That she could be impulsive, stubborn and paranoid. That she had difficulties trusting other people. That had ruined more than one relationship of hers back in the Milky Way. But until now, she had never cared. Whatever she did, she would always have her brother and he would always have her, that had been everything that mattered. Her crew had changed that for the first time, but that had been different. With them, Clara had bonded over a long time solving problems and shooting Kett. She literally had seen them saving her life on a daily basis for months before calling really calling them her friends. And they still hadn’t had to put up with her crazy complexes like Reyes. – Reyes. Of whom Scott thought that he was as crazy as Clara and that that might be the reason their relationship worked out.

She sighed and got up from her spot on the roof. If she really wanted to know if Scott was right, she had to be reasonable. There had to be a reason why Keema wanted the drive from Violet’s terminal so urgently and it probably had less to do with Clara and more with the Collective. She didn’t like it, but she had to hand the drive over. – Being reasonable sucked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much plot here, but I had to develop Clara and her difficult past (same as her close relationship to her twin) a little bit more so the future chapters will make sense. Stay tuned! :D


	8. Well, this just had to happen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryder breaks the news she got from Scott to the Collective.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took me longer than I thought to figure this one out, mainly because I had to plan a few Collective-connected things for later ahead. Next chapter will be more interesting and soon there will be some friends back. <3

“Alright, everyone, say hello to the Ex-Pathfinder with the bad news!”  
A whole room of exiles turned their heads when Clara just walked into the Collective’s HQ. Keema and Reyes looked like they had been discussing something but the moment they saw Clara, Reyes took a step back and frowned while Keema crossed her arms.  
“Another problem apart from a bored you on the planet? Don’t think we can bear that”, Keema snapped but the human woman ignored it.  
“I need to talk to you”, she declared and though she was looking at Keema she hoped the Angara would understand that she not only meant the Charlatan’s face but also himself.  
“You know, you aren’t Pathfinder anymore, Ryder. You can’t just walk into here and demand things.”  
The Angara tilted her head and Reyes rolled his eyes. “Keema, please”, he intervened and Clara raised her brows. Was that him trying to make up for his behavior in the morning? “Not to make a fuss about it but I’d be more concerned if Clara says she’s got bad news.”  
Keema hesitated for a moment and finally sighed. “Fine. Let’s talk”, she replied and nodded towards the door on the side that lead to her office. Clara smiled in content and followed the Angara together with Reyes into the small room. Inside, Keema crossed her arms again.  
“Alright. What’s the problem, Ryder? And don’t think I forgot that you stole the drive from Violet’s terminal.”  
Clara rolled her eyes and sighed. She pulled the drive out of her jacket and threw it onto Keema’s desk. “Gosh, you’re such a grumbler. Here you have it. Happy?”  
“Careful!”, Keema hissed but when she took the drive she nodded. “Okay. So, what’s the news?”  
“Oh, nothing”, Clara replied sarcastically and shrugged. “Just that the Initiative’s on their way to transfer Ditaeon and abandon Kadara.”  
“Fuck.” Both Reyes and Keema let out a curse but it was Reyes who talked first. “You’re sure?”  
“Yeah. I talked to Scott.” She sighed. “He’s leaving Havarl in a few days to supervise things here until the colony is transferred to Habitat 7.”  
“Shit”, Reyes cursed again and looked back to Keema. “That means no ice transports from Voeld anymore.”  
“And no other goods the colony might trade. And no help from the Initiative should things go south in the Port”, Keema added. “Dammit.”  
Clara raised her brows and crossed her arms. “Well, this had to happen, we knew that.” She shrugged. “If I hadn’t fought Tann off in the first place, the Port would be probably full of Initiative Militia right now. I’d been more surprised if he had just let it go now.”  
“Yeah, you saved us, great. But now, we must ask how we’re going to make our people survive.” Keema sighed. “The Port grew since the Initiative appeared here. Most of the water here is drinkable now but I’m not sure how the town can survive with the Initiative cutting all their ties.”  
“We might need to tighten our belts”, Reyes agreed.  
“Or finally cooperate with the Initiative. And I mean really cooperate. Not just your ‘yeah, whatever, as long as it helps us’-behavior.” Clara grinded her teeth. Were they really that stupid? That paranoid? “You still have a Pathfinder on your side – though it might be a bit of work to remind him of it – use that. Negotiate some deals with the Initiative and the Angara.”  
“We’re talking about a Port full of exiles, refugees and grumpy angara, Ryder.” Keema sighed. “Nobody is here because they’re on good terms with either the Initiative or the Resistance. Deals would never work.”  
“Whatever.” Clara shrugged. “Your criminal organization, your call. Just wanted to help but if you don’t want it, I can go.”  
“Oh, come on, Ryder.” Keema grimaced. “You can play that trick on Reyes but not on me.”  
“Now, I’m the one easily manipulated by her?”, Reyes snorted and grinned. “May I remind you that you, not me, we’re the one fussing about that drive just like she wanted?”  
That earned him nothing but an angry glare from his friend but that turned his grin just into open laughter.  
“Back to our real problem.” Keema shook her head and looked to Clara ignoring Reyes. “We need to be prepared when the Initiative really abandons us.”  
Clara shrugged and suppressed a wide grin because of Keema’s reaction to Reyes. “I say: Make some deals. If you don’t: Fine. I don’t care. I’ll always have friends on the Nexus and elsewhere even if the Port burns down. I’d like that not to happen because I like this dumpster of a planet, but I’ll always survive.”  
“Well, let’s hope our dumpster doesn’t burn down.” Reyes grinned before turning towards Keema. “Call our contacts if they heard anything and check where we could get problems if the colony really gets transferred. If we know where our real problems lie, we can solve them.”  
Keema nodded and opened her Omnitool. “Okay. I’ll see what I can find out.” She raised her head again and looked at the other two. “You still need something?”  
“No, I guess we’re done. Nice to help you, Keema.” Clara waved at the angara and walked towards the door.  
“You’re a pain in the ass, Ryder.”, Keema growled and rolled her eyes. “Thank you.”  
“See? Was easy, right?”  
“Stars, just leave already! And take that grinning idiot of a boyfriend with you.”  
Clara smiled widely and gently touched Reyes’ arm on her way out. He got the hint and waved at his friend before following Ryder outside. “See you, Keema!”  
The moment the door closed behind them, Reyes looked serious again and grabbed her hand before Clara could walk away.  
“Hey. Wait.” He held her hand loosely enough that she would be able to just free herself from him but firm enough to make her stop before she could head towards the door. “I wanted to say … I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to …”  
“I know.” Clara sighed and cut him off. “Not your fault. You just … hit a nerve.” She looked aside. “Old wounds, not your problem.”  
He raised his brows. “Just because of something Tann said once to you? Are you sure?”  
“It’s not about Tann it’s about my father. And I …” Ryder took a deep breath. “I just had to calm myself. Talk to Scott, let him remind me that I might be crazy but that it’s okay.” She smiled and wrapped her arms around him. “You know, just me at my worst. I’m sorry you were the one I yelled at for nothing.”  
“You’re the one who can always yell at me, you know”, he replied and pulled her closer. “I hate it when we’re fighting.”  
Clara sighed. “Me, too.”  
When they ended their embrace, Clara took a deep breath and bit her lip. “So…”, she began, “Let’s get this over quickly because I hate asking this, but … Do you have a job for me? Something to keep me busy before I really turn into a crazy maniac?”  
He chuckled softly. “You’re always a crazy maniac, mi amor. That’s one of the things I love about you.”  
“I’m serious, Reyes.” She sighed. “Keema made clear that she won’t give me work unless I ask you and I don’t want to play games any longer.”  
He smiled. “Sure. I’ll see what’s on our list and what you can take. Give me a day and I’ll have something for you.”  
With a broad grin, he walked past Ryder towards the door. Clara blinked a few times in surprise before she quickly followed him. “Just like that?”  
“Just like that”, he approved. “Told you that I understand your problem. And if you would just have asked me in the first place, you wouldn’t have had to fight with Keema.”  
They passed the front door and Reyes opened his Omnitool and cursed softly. “I need to go now, but I hope we’re good again?”  
Clara nodded. “Yeah. See you at your place later.”  
“Great.” He grinned. “Don’t make anyone mad again while I’m gone.”  
She snorted in response. “Not gonna promise that. I piss off people as a hobby.”


	9. Drinks with friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scott arrives on Kadara.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of friendship-fluff incoming including a cute drunk Peebee. Oh, and Clara teasing her brother because the Ryder twin's can't say a sentence without dumb jokes. :D

“What’s that supposed to mean they’re _refusing_ to leave?”

Addison’s voice sounded shrill on Scott’s Omnitool and he grimaced. He was standing at the gates of Diateon and impatiently shifted from one foot to the other. Clara on the other hand was leaning on the Nomand, arms crossed, and carefully watched the scenery. Vetra was standing beside her with Liam. Overall, none of them seemed nervous to Clara but stressed. Especially Scott who had dark rings under his eyes. Nothing special for the Pathfinder and his team, Clara knew that firsthand, but this was the first time she saw it from the outside and suddenly she could understand why Scott or Reyes had worried so much. He looked like shit. And that just after a few weeks. How bad must Clara looked herself at her worst times?

“Exactly what I said. Tate says they fought too hard to make this colony work and that they won’t leave”, Scott replied to Addison and waited response, but she didn’t answer. “Director? What are we supposed to do now?”

Silence again. Clara raised her brows to Vetra but the Turian just shrugged. This whole situation was beginning to be more and more interesting. When the Tempest had landed – nearly a week belated because of some stuff on Havarl – at Kadara Port this morning, it had taken Scott a bit of work to convince her to accompany him and his team to Diateon to talk to Tate. If it hadn’t been for him and the fact that she knew the colony and Tate far better than he did, Clara would just have sent him away on his own. But Scott was Scott and even she wouldn’t have expected that the colony would just _refuse_ to be transferred.

“What are your thoughts about the situation? Could somebody external be involved? The Charlatan?”

Scott turned his head and gave Clara a questioning look, but she shook her head. She had talked this through with Reyes and he had agreed that letting the Initiative just leave the planet was the smart move for the Collective. And he had promised her to leave Diateon alone anyway. The way Clara knew Tate and his settlers, they were just pissed at the way the Initiative was treating them.

“No. The Collective seems not to be involved”, Scott replied to Addison who fell silent for a moment before speaking again.

“Frankly, I can’t tell you what to do right now. I need to talk to the others first.”

Clara snorted softly and rolled her eyes. “She means she has to tell Tann that he’s an asshole and a stupid bureaucrat but _nicely_ ”, she mumbled half to herself, half to Vetra who grinned.

“Alright.” Scott sighed. “We’ll leave and stay in the Port until you call back.”

He ended the call and walked towards the Nomand. “Okay, guys, you heard her. We’re leaving.”

“Just like that?” Liam shook his head. “We rushed here from Havarl to be just sent away?”

“Well, that way you have more time enjoying the dumpster planet that’s my home now.” Clara pushed herself from her spot at the side of the Nomand and grinned. “Drinks at Kralla’s? Scott’s paying.”

“Hey! I didn’t say that.”

Clara laughed and opened the Nomad’s door. “Yeah, but I’m basically broke and you just started a new job.”

“When were you ever not broke?” Scott rolled his eyes while Liam and Vetra laughed and got onto the Nomad. “I hoped your boyfriend would pay for you now since he owns this place.”

“ _The Charlatan_ owns this place”, Clara corrected him and sat down on the back seat. “Reyes Vidal owns only a small part of it.”

“Whatever.” Scott took his place on the driver’s seat and started the Nomad’s engine. “I’m _not_ paying.”

“I’ll ask you after a few drinks again.” Clara grinned. “Alternatively, I could also just tell Cora a few things about our chaotic youth on earth.”

Liam started laughing out loud and even Vetra suppressed a grin while Scotts head turned red. “Not funny”, he replied. “And I could tell as many embarrassing stories about you as you could tell about me.”

“Yeah, but I have nothing to lose.” Clara chuckled. She had missed these kinds of conversations. Teasing Scott had always been so much fun, it broke her heart to know that she wouldn’t be able to do it in person as often as she used to. “I don’t have a reputation to protect and _my_ partner can’t be irritated by embarrassing stories anymore.”

“For fuck’s sake, C, will you be silent if I pay for the drinks?”, Scott growled which made his sister grin in content.

“Now you’re talking, Scotty.” She laid back. “And now drive us back to the Port, will you?”

 

It felt good seeing her crew again. It only had been a few weeks since they saw each other but Clara knew how much could happen on the Tempest just within four weeks. It could feel like a lifetime of chaos, crisis management and not enough sleep – not the mention Nexus leadership who nearly were always bugging their favorite Pathfinder with something. It hadn’t even surprised her when it turned out that Scott’s mission on Havarl would take longer than he had thought and the Tempest reached Kadara nearly a week later than expected.

She laid back in her seat at Kralla’s and looked around with a small smile. They all were there, the whole crew had gathered and now were chatting over drinks. Clara grinned. _Some closer than others_ , she thought as she saw how Scott and Cora had her heads suspiciously close to one another.

“So … What are the bets how long it takes until Scott and Cora start fucking?”, she asked casually and took a sip from her drink. “Or are they already?”

Vetra next to her chucked. “No, but everyone has their guesses. Gil says he gives them another week, Liam thinks ten days and Peebee said something about them both having too much of a stick in the ass that it will take at least a month until they give in. Why? Wanna join the bet?”

“Of course.” Clara grinned. “And I say it happens tonight. They’re both drunk enough to let their guard down but still not so drunk that they wouldn’t know anymore what they’re doing.”

“I’ll never understand what it is with you Ryders and betting on your twins love life.” Vetra shook her head. “But okay. Noted.”

Clara shrugged and took another sip. “We’re always teasing each other, it’s part of our relationship. Our dad was a pain in the ass, so we just had one another when my mom died. That’s awesome if you need something to have your back but also … stressful if you just wanna fight from time to time with your sibling. So dumb jokes are our way of communicating that we care. If one of us stopped doing it – _that_ would be a reason to be concerned.” She shrugged. “That’s why I was so relieved when Scott met Reyes and started teasing me about my bad taste in men. If he wouldn’t have, I’d have known that he really worries. A lot.”

“Talking about Reyes ...” Vetra raised her brows. “Where is he? Will he join us?”

Clara shrugged again. “He should. Told him he should come but you know him. He can be … busy.”

“Yeah. I know”, Vetra replied flatly. “I’m one of those who need to talk to him.”

“Oh, still doing business with smugglers on Kadara, are you?” Clara wiggled her brows. “What would Tann say?”

“To quote a wise friend of mine: Fuck Tann.” Vetra raised her glass towards Clara who laughed at that toast.

“Yeah. Fuck Tann!”

“Oh, you’re the one with the good toasts!” Peebee giggled and let herself drop on the bench next to Clara with her glass raised, too. “Fuck that stupid bureaucrat!” She threw her head back and emptied her glass with one big gulp before leaning obviously drunk to Clara. “So, how are you keeping up, Ryder? Hating it already?”

“Actually, no.” Clara laughed. “It gets better. I even have found a cool mission for me. Wanna join me tomorrow? Vetra’s coming too.”

“Just because you’ll get yourself killed otherwise”, the Turian threw in but both Peebee and Clara ignored her.

“Yeah, sure! That’ll be fun!” Peebee giggled again and collapsed on Claras side. “Oh, I missed you, Ryder! The other Ryder is nice, too, but it wasn’t fair that you had to go. We all miss you.”

Clara laughed and sat up her friend again, this time wrapping an arm around her middle to support her. “I miss you guys, too, Peebee.”

Vetra laughed and shook her head. “I’ll ask Jaal to take her from here. Somebody will have to carry her back to the Tempest and I don’t think any of the others are both strong and sober enough.”

She got up and moved past the others towards Jaal who was sitting with Liam and Suvi near the stairs. While she started talking to him, Clara heard that Peebee started snoring softly and with a chuckle, Ryder let her friend down resting her head on her lap.

“Sleep well, you crazy Asari.”

When she raised her head again, she saw Reyes walking down the stairs to Kralla’s and waved at him. Vetra had ended her conversation with Jaal who got up from his seat and walked towards Ryder and Peebee while the Turian stopped Reyes and started talking to him looking even sterner than usual. Clara frowned. There definitely was something going on and she wasn’t sure if it just was a difficult job. Reyes really looked uneasy and Vetra crossed her arms. Was she scolding him? Why?

“Hello, Ryder.” She turned her head when Jaal appeared in front of her. “Should I take Peebee from you?”

Clara laughed. “Yeah. That would be a great idea. She’s far heavier than she looks.”

“She is.” Carefully, Jaal lifted the sleeping Asari from Ryder and took her into his arms like a damsel in distress. “I’ll bring her to the Tempest and come back afterwards.”

“Wait!” Clara jumped from her seat and opened her Omnitool with a broad grin. “Stay like that. I wanna take a pic. Peebee will hate this.”

Jaal frowned. “Why would you do that if you think she’ll hate it?”

“Because that’s what friends do, Jaal.” Clara kept grinning and took the pic. “They tease each other. She will hate it but sooner or later, she will love having something to remember her of today.”

“I think that’s … strange.”

Jaal shook his head but Clara tilted her head and smiled. “You’ll see what I mean. And you know, we guys from the Milky Way are a crazy bunch.”

“I noticed that.” He turned around. “See you later, Ryder!”

When Jaal carried the sleeping Peebee outside Kralla’s, Reyes and Vetra had ended their conversation. Vetra shook her head and took a seat next to Drack at the bar while Reyes greeted Jaal as they were passing each other and walked towards Clara. When he reached her, she got up from her seat and greeted him by pulling him into a quick kiss.

“You’re late”, she reminded him and Reyes grimaced.

“I know. Sorry. Collective business.” He tucked a strand of her red hair behind her ear and smiled. “So, everybody’s drunk already?”

 “Most of them.” Clara grinned and took his hand while nodding towards Scott and Cora. “Come on, let’s annoy my brother a bit.”

Reyes tensed up and held her back. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, _mi amor_. He already hates me, remember?”

 “He doesn’t hate you. He likes you more than you think and he’d be more mad at me than you.” Clara laughed and pulled him closed again. “Never thought you’d be afraid of him like that”, she teased him and Reyes gave her a crooked smile.

“I’d be stupid if I’d piss off the human Pathfinder. Especially if he’s also my girlfriend’s brother.” He grinned and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek so he could whisper in her ear. “You know, I want to make this work and I imagine being on good terms with your family is a good idea.”

“Oh, you’re such a charmer, Vidal.” Clara freed herself from the embrace and started leading him towards her brother’s table. “Now, come on. Scott’s been flirting with Cora the whole evening and I want to get my sibling-revenge for his dumb jokes about my bad taste in men.”

Reyes laughed but didn’t stop her. “Well, you _do_ have a bad taste in men.”

“Yeah. The worst, but I’ll annoy my brother anyway.”

She grinned and dragged Reyes through the room. When they came near, Scott raised his head and frowned for a moment before smiling and waving at them.

“Mind if we join you?” Clara smiled innocently. Scott raised his brows and Cora frowned for a moment but then, the younger Ryder twin shrugged.

“Sure, take a seat.” He nodded towards Reyes while the two newcomers sat down on the bench opposite to Scott and Cora. “Hello, Vidal. I see, my sister hasn’t driven you crazy yet?”

Clara rolled her eyes over the provocation, but Reyes chuckled and wrapped one arm around her shoulders. “Good to see you, too, Ryder. And no, she hasn’t. It takes a little more than her to drive me crazy.”

“You’re being soft on him, aren’t you?” Scott tilted his head and Clara stuck out her tongue towards her brother which provoked a soft laugh from him. “Alright, I stop it.” He lowered his head as if to bow towards his sister and chuckled. “It’s nice to see you both. Better?”

“See, you _can_ be nice, Scotty.” Clara leaned herself to Reyes’ side, who immediately pulled her closer into a comfortable position, and raised her brows towards Cora. “So, how’s he doing as a Pathfinder? Is he worse than me?”

The other woman shrugged. “Difficult to compare. You had to learn everything on the run, there were times literally _everyone_ was surprised your plans worked out. But you’re both incredibly bad at handling Tann.”

“Hey, I’m _very_ diplomatic!” Scott gave Cora an accusing glare. “Kesh told me I’m doing great for not insulting Tann once since I started the job!”

Cora laughed and patted his arm. “Yeah, but that doesn’t make you a diplomat yet. And she compares you to Clara which sets the bar very low.” She smiled at her friend. “No offense.”

 “None taken. Can’t say I miss putting up with Tann’s shit.” Clara shrugged. “Told you, I didn’t leave without reason.”

“Well, your reason sits right beside you I guess.” Scott raised his glass and mumbled his words half into it.

“I never asked her to give her job up for me”, Reyes replied, his voice all cool. Under the table, Clara reached out for his hand and pressed it gently. “That was her and only her decision.”

“Sorry, didn’t mean to accuse you.” Scott sighed. “What I wanted to say is … If Tann would have demanded something else, I think she would have found a compromise. But it was about you and if Tann would be a bit smarter, he would have known that she was serious when she told him you were off limits. And I don’t have to like it to respect that.”

“Damn right.” Clara glared at her brother for a moment before grinning again. “If you’re on bad terms with Tann anyway, do me a favor and tell him from me to fuck himself when you see him.”

“You won’t do that”, Cora intervened before Scott could give his sister an answer. “Just don’t.” When Clara started laughing at that reaction and Scott joined her, Cora’s face darkened. “You’re putting bad ideas into his head.”

Clara grinned widely. “Sorry to disappoint you, but those bad ideas are genetic.”

Cora sighed deeply and looked to Reyes as if she was looking for help in this conversation, but he just chuckled and shook his head. “Don’t look at me. I’m very grateful for her tendency to bad ideas.”

“I bet. You’re my best bad idea ever.” Clara grinned and reached for Reyes to give him a quick kiss.

He chuckled. “Careful, I might get the impression you like me.”

“I think that’s just a rumor.” Clara turned her head to Scott and Cora again while still talking to Reyes. “Talking about rumors: Already heard how Tate and the settlers just refused the transfer of Ditaeon?”

From the corner of her eyes, Clara could see how Reyes smiled. “I heard about that. I guess that complicates things for the Initiative?”

Scott rolled his eyes. “Yeah. Nexus leadership are probably fighting right now over what we’re doing now. – I take it you didn’t have anything to do with the whole thing?”

“Oh, concerning that I’m all innocent.” Reyes grinned. “I guess the Initiative pissed off Tate all on their selves. I hear you guys are good at that.”

“Point taken.” Scott raised his glass and emptied it. “Well, it was nice to talk to you, but I think I’ll go now. Haven’t slept enough in days and if I’m on pause for a few days because Tann and Addison have to fight for a while, I wanna use that time.”

“Sleep well, little brother.” Clara waved at him and grinned mischievously. “You should take Cora with you. She looks _very_ tired.”

Both Scott and Cora frowned for a moment but didn’t seem to fully pick up Clara’s hint which made it very hard not to laugh out loud. No matter the obvious irritation, when Scott got up from his seat, Cora waved at Clara and Reyes and followed him. “Sleep well, Clara. Vidal.”

Clara waved back. “Good night, you two!”

Only when both Cora and Scott were far enough away to not hear her anymore, Clara started openly laughing. “Oh, this will be great. I will tease him with that story forever.”

Reyes tilted his head. “Care to explain what you mean?”

“They have a crush on each other and I placed a bet with Vetra that they’ll have sex today.” Clara chuckled. “I’m pretty sure I’ll be right.”

“You’re betting on when your brother will be having sex? Seriously?”

“Hey, he would have done the same.” With a broad grin she straightened herself up a bit to look at him. “If he wouldn’t have been in coma when we met, he definitely would have been the first to bet when we would end up together in bed for the first time.” She leaned forward and gave him a deep kiss. “Talking about you and me and a bed – It’s really getting late and that is a combination that sounds wonderful right now.”

He chuckled. “You are a greedy woman.”

“Don’t act as if you don’t love that about me.”

“Wouldn’t come to my mind.” He got up from his seat and took her hand. “Let’s go home. I have a few ideas about you, me and that bed.”


	10. Obviously, you want to get us killed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryder sooner or later will get everyone killed. It's destiny.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gosh, this took forever, I'm sorry. I had practically no time for writing over the last few weeks. But well, here we are again, and next chapter should be Reyes POV again.

“So, why are we here again all on our own?” Vetra turned her head and nervously looked over the Valley below them. “With no backup? And neither your boyfriend nor your brother even knows where we are? – I mean, apart from the fact that you obviously want us to get killed.”

Clara rolled her eyes and sighed. “You’re exaggerating”, she replied. “And right now, I want neither Reyes nor Scott involved in this. I’m not sure if Reyes is hiding something from me he shouldn’t hide, so …”

“Which he probably is”, Vetra threw in and Peebee next to her grinned, but Clara kept talking.

“So”, she said and glared at her friend, “we have to do this on our own and find out what this is all about. The situation between the Collective and the Initiative is difficult enough without me making everybody panic without reason.”

“Stop being such grumbler, Vetra.” Peebee rolled her eyes and stopped any reply Vetra might have wanted to give. “Be happy that the team’s back! This will be _fun_!”

“We have different understandings of fun.” Vetra scoffed but rolled her shoulders and checked her weapon. A movement both Peebee and Clara knew too well to not identify it as a sign that their friend was ready to fight and didn’t mean her protest as much as she tried to make the others believe. “Alright. What’s the plan?”

“Do you see that building over there?” Clara pointed at the structure below them with her rifle. “I’m not sure why, but a scientist I was supposed to check on for Keema had its navpoint encrypted on her terminal’s drive.” She shrugged. “I’m curious.”

“Right. And Reyes doesn’t know that we’re here because you’re curious.” Peebee snorted in amusement. “You’ve been better at lying, Ryder.”

“Alright, Reyes doesn’t know we’re here because I more or less stole that navpoint from him.” Clara rolled her eyes. “So, let’s just go and check this out, okay? It’s probably nothing anyway.”

“Sure. That’s why we brought the guns with us”, Vetra commented under her breath but both Ryder and Peebee ignored it.

“Well, I’m ready.”

The asari grinned while Ryder walked past the rock they had been taking cover behind. Vetra grumbled something in response but followed her friend when Clara started climbing down the slope in front of them. The group quickly moved closer to the building and though Clara would have never admitted that, it felt extremely strange to be on a mission again but not being able to access SAM. She knew he was somewhere inside her head – the Initiative couldn’t really take him from her after all without risking to kill her – but she couldn’t hear him or ask him for help because they really had managed to mute him. And that felt now stranger than ever.

“Maybe this place was abandoned?” Peebee moved next to Clara and raised her brows when the three of them came closer to the building. “I mean, here is literally nobody apart from us. Not even some smugglers or something.”

“Makes all of this even more suspicious”, Vetra replied. “A place that could be useful for bandits, smuggler or whoever on Kadara that looks abandoned? Either there is something in there that keeps everyone else outside or somebody protects it.”

“Well, we’ll only find out if we go inside.”

Clara smirked at her friends and ignored Vetra’s protest, but just clinched her hands around her rifle and quickly moved closer to the entrance. Behind her Peebee giggled and followed her. It took Clara only a minute to hack the lock and the door swung open in front of them. When the three women entered the building afterwards, they didn’t find much. The whole structure just seemed to be one big room full of bigger and smaller containers.

“A warehouse? So, this is a smuggler’s lair.” Vetra frowned and cautiously moved towards the nearest box. “Oh, fuck.”

Ryder turned her head. “What?”

“Weapons. High quality. And probably modified.” Vetra shook her head in shock. “If there are more of these in here, this could be enough to start a war.”

“Fuck.” Clara lowered her own weapon and walked to another container not far from her. That one had a lock which she just shot open with her pistol and opened the box afterwards. “Fuck! There are grenades in here. A whole fucking box of grenades.”

“I don’t wanna upset you, Ryder, but a warehouse full of weapons that we found after following a navpoint you stole from Reyes? This stinks like Collective-stuff.” Peebee nervously looked around them.

“I know.” Clara sighed and clinched her fists. She would kill Reyes. This time, she would really do it. “I know.”

“We should really get out of here.” Vetra turned away from the box in front of her. “Now. Whoever owns this probably took some precautions. If we don’t leave now, we might meet them.”

“Might be too late for that.”

“Oh, fuck.”


	11. Bad timing, Vidal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the waiting time but both my life same as other ideas (I just gave up and started a Dragon Age: Inquisition-Fic about Cullen/Mage Trevelyan) are killing me. Hope you like this chapter. <3

Reyes checked his Omnitool. Again. And just like the last time a minute before that, he was greeted by an empty mailbox. Concerningly empty.

“Seriously, Clara, where are you?”, he mumbled to himself and sighed.

She was late. That alone wasn’t really a reason for worry, because that was just like Clara could be at times, but normally, she told him when she didn’t make it home on time. Reyes wasn’t the man to panic without reason, but with Clara’s weapon gone and herself nowhere to find while she ignored his messages and calls, he would have been stupid not to worry. Especially since he already had checked on Keema and had asked her if she had heard anything around the Port, but according to his friend, no one had seen Ryder since the morning.

Reyes nervously scratched his neck and stared at his Omnitool again. Maybe she was just on the Tempest and had forgotten to check her messages? When he had tried to reach Vetra, the Turian hadn’t reacted either, so maybe this was just about a bunch of friends catching up? Hopefully, it just was that. But what if not?

Reyes sighed again and finally typed on the one name he had wanted to avoid for a call. He wouldn’t risk Clara’s safety just because of his own nervousness.

“Bad timing, Vidal.” Reyes could nearly hear how Scott rolled his eyes. “I’m in the middle of training.”

“Calm down, Ryder”, he replied. “Could you just tell Clara to call me? She’s late.”

“She isn’t here. Why not call her yourself anyway?”

Reyes let out a soft curse. “Because I can’t reach her and haven’t heard from her all day.”

“Are you trying to tell me that my sister went missing, Vidal?” Scott growled, but Reyes simply refused to be intimidated by that kind of stupid drama. “I swear if anything happened to her …”

“Oh, stop it, Ryder”, Reyes snapped and cut Scott off that way. “First, you’re not the only one who worries about her. She didn’t tell me where she went, and I just thought she’d be around in the Port. So, if she’s missing, it’s not my fault. Second, I can’t reach Vetra either and if she isn’t with you, they might be together. So please stop being such an ass just because you don’t like me and help me find Clara.”

Scott just scoffed and fell silent for a moment before letting out a deep sigh. “Alright, give me a second.”

For a few horribly long minutes, Scott muted his mic and left Reyes to his own worry. Just a moment ago, he still had hoped Clara just was at the Tempest and fooling around with her friends, but when neither him nor Scott had any idea where she was, this probably had been on purpose. And Reyes knew her well enough to know that if Clara didn’t want both of them to know what she was doing, it probably was because she was doing something either dangerous or extremely stupid. Maybe both.

“Vidal?”

Scott’s voice interrupted Reyes’ thoughts. “Please tell me she’s on your ship, Ryder.”

“She isn’t and both Vetra and Peebee are gone, too. Same as their weapons and the Nomad.”

“Fuck. That means Clara has found herself a mission. Probably somewhere in the badlands.” Reyes cursed quietly. “Any way you can find out where they are?”

“I can try. I’m not surveilling my people, but I have the navpoint where they left the Nomad and maybe their logs can tell us where they went.”

“Good.” Reyes already grabbed his jacket and his weapon. “Send me the Nomad’s navpoint. I’ll check if my people know something and meet you there.”

\---

“Oh, look what we got here. A Wannabe-Pathfinder.”

Clara scoffed. “I should have let Keema kill you when she had the chance.”

She was bound to an old chair in the middle of a small room in the back of the large hall they had found. The strings holding her arms in place cut deep into her skin and slowly, she was getting really pissed. Not only because of her situation, but also because of the man standing in front of her and staring her down, visibly content with the fact he had both her and Peebee in his hands. After Vetra had been able to run away right the moment Keatus and his men had appeared, the other both had been captured and brought back here. Peebee had been gagged the moment she had started to curse and insult their kidnappers, so it was just Clara who could speak right now and it took most of her discipline to stay calm and not shout at Kaetus and his ungrateful turian ass. When Reyes had killed Sloane and caught her lieutenant, it had been thanks to Clara that he had let go of Kaetus instead of killing him. She hadn’t wanted even more bloodshed and of course, her trying to do a good deed backfired now. Whatever happened in this fucking cluster, it only got worse.

“Well, your mistake.” He grinned and came closer. “Now I’ll just have to wait for your friend to inform your boyfriend and your brother and I’ll have both their heads same as yours. This must be my lucky day.”

“You’re really stupid if you think you can put up a fight against any of them.”

“Oh, why? Because your brother is the Pathfinder now and Reyes is the Charlatan?” The grin on his face got broader when he saw the surprise on Clara’s face. “Oh, yeah, I did the math. And he will pay for murdering Sloane.”

“You’re still an idiot.”

“And you’re naïve. I could equip an army. I don’t have to fear anyone.”

That made Clara fall silent and she bit her lip to suppress a curse. She really hoped Vetra could find and warn Reyes and Scott. Otherwise, all of them would be really fucked.


	12. Dying three times changes your perspective

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scott and Reyes head out to rescue Clara.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter, finally! This took far longer than I anticipated, so many thanks to memawmay for their lovely comments which boosted my motivation <3 I originally planned to put this chapter and the next one into one but this one was starting to get too long that way, so I decided to split them. Hope you guys like it. :)

When Reyes landed the Anubis in the Badlands, Scott and his team were already waiting. This time Clara’s brother didn’t seem like he was taking any risks and Reyes was greeted not only by a very stern looking Cora but also by Drack who just eyed him as aggressively as ever. Reyes already had asked himself if that was just Drack’s face, though now he suspected it wasn’t about the face but the person he was looking at. On the other hand, he was too worried right now to care about the Tempest’s crew and what they thought of him.

He cared much more for the third person who waited for him. Leaning against the Nomad while wrapping a bandage around her hand stood Vetra. Even from far Reyes could see that whereever she came from, her escape must have been close. There were enough blood and scratches on her armor that he would have believed her if she told him that she went three rounds against Drack and the angry expression on her face only proved his worry even before he had reached the group.

“Vidal. Finally.” Scott crossed his arms and glared at him. “You’ve got five seconds to cut the crap and tell me the truth.”

“What?”

“The weapons, Reyes”, Vetra supplied. “We found the lair. Clara got the Navpoint for Violet’s lab from the drive she stole from Keema.”

“Fuck.”

Reyes could feel how his face turned white. Clara had been never supposed to find out about the Collective’s attempts to develop own, new kinds of weapons. Though this had been more Keema’s project than his and it had been her who had wanted to equip their people better, Reyes had approved of her doing. Especially now that there could come a war against the Initiative any time Tann decided to be the same stupid ass as ever. But Clara, Clara would have never understood that. She would have seen the material for an army that could destabilize the whole cluster. And partly, she was right. It was only that Reyes was betting on different people and thing than her. This could work if they did it right and he had planned to tell her only when they already _had_ done everything right.

“Yeah, fuck.” Scott gritted his teeth and eyed Reyes. “Gigantic fuck.”

“Listen, I can explain”, Reyes replied which prompted a “For fuck’s sake, Vidal!” from Scott which he ignored. “Yes, there is one of the Collective’s lairs close and there might be some weapons, but it’s supposed to be held by my people. None of them would be stupid enough to attack Clara or anyone of you because they know that it’s the last thing they’ll do.”

“Well, your guards were either idiots or traitors”, Vetra snapped back. “Kaetus took the thing over and caught us when we entered the building. I could barely escape, and he’s still got Clara and Peebee.”

“Shit.” He would have Keema’s head when this was done. Even without Clara involved – having a bunch of weapons in the hands of their enemies was basically the definition of fucking things up. “That wasn’t—”

“Fucking idiot.” Drack growled and took a step forward to which Reyes instinctively took one back, but the Krogan just drew his shotgun and turned to Scott. “I say we don’t waste any more time, go in there, grab your sister and Peebee and leave again. Now. She will have his head on her own afterwards.”

Reyes scoffed, but remained silent. He wasn’t sure if Drack knew how right he was with that. Clara would literally kill him when she would be getting out of that mess.

“We have no idea how many are in there. Vetra didn’t see enough of it and we have no backup to help us if this mess gets even worse”, Cora replied and threw a worried look at Scott. “We should call for reinforcements first.”

“We might not have the time.” Scott sighed. “With Vetra’s escape, Kaetus will know that we’re on our way. We’re risking their lives if we’re waiting too long.”

“But we’re also risking theirs and ours if we’re going in there without a chance.”

“I’d rather risk my life than Clara’s.”

For a second, Cora seemed like she wanted to respond something to that, but then she just sighed and nodded. “Alright. You’re the Pathfinder. Your call.”

Scott smiled at her and squished her hand before turning to Vetra. “You’re up for a fight?”

“Stop it, Ryder, I’ve been through worse than this.” She scoffed. “I’ll go with Reyes. Clara will kill all of us if you’re shooting him just because you’re worried.”

“Very nice, Nyx.” Scott rolled his eyes before turning to Reyes. “I suppose you know the building?”

“Been there only once or twice.” Reyes grimaced. “But there’s only one room in the back anyway. If Kaetus isn’t keeping them in the main hall, they must be there. I guess the codes for the back door are changed by now, but the lock is custom made and I know it well. Give me a few minutes and I might pick it.”

“Okay, you two take that door and we’re making some noise at the front.” Scott drew his weapon. “Let’s go and get my sister.”

 

The blast was the first thing Clara could hear. The second thing were loud voices shouting followed by shots. Somewhere on the other side of the door Kaetus yelled orders at his men but his voice faded soon. Instead, the door swung open and two men Clara didn’t know entered. Judging from their armor and tattoos they must have joined Kaetus after Sloane’s death, but Clara wasn’t sure. She was sure though that those were amateurs.

“When they’re close, sweep them of their feet with a blast”, Clara whispered and leaned over to Peebee who was still gagged next to her. “I know these kinds of shackles. Trust me.”

Her friend nodded, and Clara straightened her back again and relaxed her arms as well as she could. Her biotics were flashing around her wrists, ready to fry the lock on the cheap shackles they had used to tie her up. She suppressed a smile. Idiots. Trying to chain up a Ryder twin in these wasn’t a thing that was ever going to work.

“Hey, dumbasses!” She grinned at the guards who turned their heads. “You’re shitting your pants yet? I guess that’s my brother kicking your friends’ asses out there.”

The taller one of the two men frowned. “Shut up or I’ll gag you too.”

“Oh, how cute. You think you could do this?”

He scoffed. “Alright, I warned you. I’ll put an end to this now.”

Just like Clara had hoped, he slowly moved closer and his companion followed him. When he was only a few steps away, Clara knew it was time. “ _Now!_ ”, she shouted and Peebee reacted. Within a second, a blue shock wave flashed towards both guards, just at the height of their legs, to whirl them off their feet. At the same time, Clara blasted her shackles with her own biotics and jumped forward. The guard closer to her had only touched the ground when Clara disarmed him. Without hesitation, she drew his pistol and shot him while his friend tried to stand up again. Before he could get back on his feet, she aimed and shot. The air still frizzled with biotic energy when he dropped on the floor.

“Told you. Dumbasses.” Clara turned around to Peebee and grinned while she freed the Asari. “Take the other one’s pistol and let’s get out of here.”

“And these weapons out there?”

Clara’s face darkened while she turned to the guard whose pistol she just had taken and started to search him for anything useful. “Let’s hope it’s really Scott and the others who’s out there and we don’t have to leave them here, but for now, I’d like to be long enough alive to rip my boyfriend’s head from his shoulders. Right after he tells me why we found a fucking hall full of custom weapons probably belonging to the Collective and how the hell Kaetus could get his greedy fingers on them.”

Peebe giggled. “Oh, it’s great to get in trouble with you again.”

Suddenly, Clara heard a lock click behind them and the sound of a door opening and whirled around. The door at the front that lead into the main hall was closed that meant somewhere in here between the smaller containers stuffed in the opposite side of the room there must have been a backdoor. She cursed quietly and raised her pistol, ready to aim at anyone who would come too close.

“Clara?”

She lowered the weapon again when Reyes – shortly followed by Vetra – walked past some boxes and towards her. His steps got faster when he saw her while worry turned into relief on his face.

“Are you alright?” He reached for her hands, but Clara dodged his touch.

“Not thanks to you”, she snapped. “I hope you have a fucking good explanation for this place and the shit that’s going on here.”

He looked down and in a different situation, Clara might have felt bad for snarling at him like that when she saw the regret on his face. This was not what he had planned, of course, she knew that. In his plans, she was never put into danger without her consent, that was one of his better traits. But at the same time, he had lied to her. Again.

“You can kill him when we’re out of here. Scott, Cora and Drack are taking the front door and wait for my signal that you guys are safe.” Vetra nodded towards the direction she and Reyes had come from. “Let’s move. Quickly.”

“No.” Clara shook her head. “We’re seven now. We can corner them from both sides and get this place back from Kaetus before he can flee with the weapons.”

“Hell, Ryder, No! This is exactly the kind of shit that brought us here in the first place!”

“She’s right, Clara.” Reyes tried to reach out for her hand again but stopped himself this time. “We can hunt him down later.”

“Yeah, and then we’ll have an army to fight instead of a bunch of smugglers.” She turned around to the main door. “I’ll go and meet Scott at the front. Who’s in?”

 “As if any of us would let you run into your demise alone.” Vetra growled as she caught up with Clara and threw an annoyed glare at her. “You’ll get us killed one day. You know that, right?”

Clara grinned and patted her friend on the shoulder. “But not today.”

“You know that you’re setting the bar very low that way?”

“I died three times already, that changes your perspective a bit.”

Vetra scoffed but let her be. Instead, she followed Clara when she started moving. The door had been locked but was no real problem. It took Vetra a minute to hack it and make it swiftly open in front of them. The sound of shots was now louder, but the battlefield still was ahead of them and Clara could count at least four mercenaries hiding between the containers and a sniper above them. She gave Vetra a signal to take way to their left with Peebee while Clara and Reyes would come from the opposite side. When the other two started moving, she lightly touched Reyes’ arm and pointed at the sniper.

“You take care of the sniper, I take the other two.”

“Shouldn’t I—”

“If the sniper notices us or Scott and the others come in his range, we’re fucked”, she interrupted him. “So, just do as I say. Just once.”

That made him fall silent and with a quick nod he disappeared to climb up the construct of containers on which the sniper had taken his position and near him from behind. At the same time, Clara slowly moved forward closer to the two men on the ground. When she was close enough to shoot, she glanced at Reyes again who had nearly reached the sniper and then at Vetra and Peebee who were in position, too. Clara aimed at the first one, aimed and shot. Her bullet pierced his head even before any of the mercenaries had noticed their new attackers and with a dull sound his body dropped to the ground. The others turned around, but the next moment, three well-aimed shots from the women cornering them killed them.

Clara grinned at her friends and pointed in the direction in front of them. “Let’s get them while they’re still confused.”

A muffled scream made her raise her head and she saw Reyes covering the sniper’s mouth with one hand while pressing his pistol into his back. One shot and the man dropped dead on top of the container and Reyes raised one hand to signal his victory. The moment Clara wanted to raise her hand to wave back at him, she heard a shot.

And Reyes fell.


	13. Don't mi amor me!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clara rips off a few heads.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy new year! Had a bit of free time yesterday and finished this chapter. Have fun!

Panic crept over Clara. She watched how Reyes stumbled back and nearly fell off the edge of the container he was standing on before bending forward and dropping down.

_Fuck._

_Fuck. Fuck. Fuck._

Before she knew it, she was running to the stack of container on which the sniper had stood just seconds ago and started climbing. The fight, Vetra and Peebee, her brother, Cora and Drack, all forgotten. Only one thought burned behind her forehead now, only one name while her heart beat faster and faster as if to burst out of her chest. If Reyes was … No, not to think of it. She had risked everything because of that stupid idiot smuggler of a man, if he died now she would haunt him even in death and rip his head off for leaving her alone.

“Reyes?”

When Clara reached the top, she could hear him groan in pain. He had turned on his back and pressed one hand on his left shoulder. Blood poured between his fingers and turned his armor red, but still, Clara sighed in relief.

“Thank god”, she mumbled. “You’re not dead.”

He chuckled dryly. “Seriously, Clara, has anyone ever told you how strange your standards are?”

“There are a few people who mentioned it once or twice.” Carefully, she lifted his hand to take a look at the wound. “You’ll be fine. Looks like the bullet went through smoothly.”

“I bet.” He scoffed. “I’m pretty sure Scott shot me. He’s too good to miss.”

Clara’s face fell. “What?!”

“I guess it was an accident.” Reyes smiled sarcastically before pain washed over his face. “Probably mistook me for the sniper.”

Clara let out a curse. That was bullshit and they both knew it. Scott was too well trained to not recognize it when he was suddenly aiming at a different person. Not to mention that if he would have really mistaken him for the sniper, Reyes would be dead now. That shot just had been to annoy him.

“Why the fuck are all the men in my life fucking idiots?”, Clara muttered while taking her scarf from her neck. Reyes took in air for a probably witty reply, but she threw a warning glare at him. “ _Don’t_.”

He closed his mouth again and Clara started wrapping his shoulder into her scarf to stop the bleeding. When she was done, she glanced down onto the battlefield below them. Peebee and Vetra had moved on while Clara had run after Reyes and were now shortly before meeting Drack who just smashed a mercenary’s head onto one of the containers. Shortly behind him, there were Scott and Cora and Clara could see that her brother was carrying his assault rifle. Just enough range to reach someone right where she was standing right now. Clara growled softly. She would so rip off his head when this was done.

“Only three left”, she told Reyes and turned back to him. “Won’t take long now. Let’s get you down to the ground in the meantime.”

He grimaced. “That means I have to climb with a shot shoulder, right? Great.”

“Stop whining and be happy that you’re alive.”

She scoffed and started moving to make her way down. The next few minutes Clara kept climbing down one container after the other and helped Reyes down to her afterwards. He groaned and cursed in pain but didn’t complain again probably because it wouldn’t have helped anyway. When they finally reached the ground, Clara took a careful look at the wound and growled.

“Dammit. It bleeds more than before.” She curled her lips and clicked with her tongue. “Press your hand on the scarf to slow it down again. The others probably have something with them to treat this as soon as we’re out of here.” Another shot fell and then suddenly silence filled the room which made Clara turn her head. “Sounds like they’re done.”

She started walking past the corpses of the mercenaries she had shot before and into the direction Vetra and Peebee had disappeared. When she passed a stack of boxes and came around the next corner, Clara could see that she had been right. The fight was over, and her friends already started slowly moving out of their cover and looking around if they oversaw someone or if any of the dead had something useful with them. When Scott saw Clara, relief appeared on his face.

“C!” He started running towards her. “Are you alright?”

“Did you shoot Reyes?”

He blinked in surprise. “What?”

“Simple question: Did you shoot Reyes?” Clara crossed her arms. “Because if this is true, I will rip off your head, Scotty.”

With a deep sigh, Scott rolled his eyes. “Come on. It’s just a scratch.”

“Are you fucking kidding me? _‘It’s just a scratch’?_ You could have killed him!”

“Bullshit, Clara. My shot would have missed him if he hadn’t suddenly moved his shoulder.”

“That doesn’t change a fucking thing!”, she shouted back at him, her blood now boiling with anger. “You. Shot. My. Partner! What would you say if I was running around shooting Cora?!”

“Cora didn’t betray us.”

“He lied to _me!_ He broke a promise to _me!_ He didn’t betray _you_ or the Initiative, but _me!_ And that means that this is my fucking business and not yours!” She turned around and started walking to the door. “For fuck’s sake, Scott, this is exactly the kind of bullshit Dad would have pulled!”

“Seriously, Clara, that’s not fair! I came to rescue you after he put you in danger!”

“Well, congratulations on that! At least one thing you didn’t fuck up today!”

“What’s that supposed to mean now?”

“Then think very hard and look around where Keatus is.” She stopped and looked back over her shoulder. “Spoiler alert: Not here.”

Scott cursed and suddenly hissed orders at his crew to look around for the Turian, but Clara was sure they wouldn’t find him anymore. If he hadn’t fled during the fight already, he would have by now. While the others started spreading and searched the building, Reyes carefully moved between the containers and started walking towards Clara. Oh, great. The next idiot of the day. Clara rolled her eyes and turned around to run away before he could reach her.

“ _Mi amor_ , please, wait”, he called after her. Clara stopped and whirled around.

“Don’t _mi amor_ me, Reyes!”, she hissed. “You _lied_ to me!”

“Well, technically I just didn’t say everything?” He grimaced. “You always knew that I can’t tell you everything. You didn’t even want to know everything.”

“Well, newsflash, a building full of weapons is the type of thing I’m supposed to know of! The Collective meddling with customizations of said weapons is a thing I’m supposed to know of!” She raised her hands in a defending manner. “You know what? Fuck this. I’m so fed up on this crap. See you, Reyes.”

And with these words Clara stormed off.


	14. Never say it’s boring with me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clara decides to clean up everybody else's messes. Because somebody has to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long time no see, sorry! Been a few crazy weeks again and I've been working more on my Dragon Age fic, "Demons of Our Pasts". But today I finally felt like writing a little about Clara again and finished this chapter. Thanks to everyone who stuck with me until here and enjoy! <3

“You’re one kind of a woman, Ryder. You know that?”

Kesh placed the Datapad she had been holding on her desk and frowned. Clara on the other hand, chuckled cheerlessly and sighed. “You’re not the first one to tell me that.”

She was sitting in Kesh’s office where she just had entered and made herself comfortable on one of the storages standing around. Everything without asking. After her fight with both Scott and Reyes, Clara had taken the _Anubis_ with which Reyes seemed to have come to her rescue and flown away. At first, she just had wanted to annoy him by taking his shuttle and leave it in the Port, but when she reached the town and her anger was as boiling as before, she decided to refill the tank and leave a message for Keema that Reyes would get his ship back as soon as she decided to return it. Then, she had left the Port and flew to the only person she could think of to ask for help: Kesh.

“I thought you were relaxing on Kadara with your smuggler.” Kesh raised her brows or did what came close to it in Krogan expressions. “Trouble in paradise already?”

“Kinda.” Clara grimaced. “But I’m also pissed at my brother which is why I’m here with you instead of speaking with him.”

“I’m not the one for relationship advice”, the Krogan replied and Ryder laughed.

“I’m not here for that. It’s Initiative stuff but I need to speak with someone who will keep quiet if needed and is not Scott.”

“That bad?”

“Worse.”

She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair as she tried to figure out where to start with that big mess Reyes made. Finally, Clara grimaced and decided to just get over with the inevitable truth. “Alright, just promise me to listen first and yell later, okay?”

Kesh scoffed.

“I’m taking this as an agreement.”

“It’s not but I’ll give my best.”

“Considering my day until now I’m totally cool with that.” Clara forced a laugh but even in her ears it sounded bitter. “Well, you know how I fled to Kadara after my well-deserved ‘Fuck you!’ to Tann and at first it all was fun and games but then I got bored. I wanted something to do and got Keema Dohrgun convinced to give me a Collective job. I was supposed to check on a scientist in the Port who had disappeared for a few days and I found her apartment all torn apart. Someone even tried to destroy her terminal, but they fucked up destroying its drive. I stole said drive – actually, just to force Keema to give me a real job – and before I gave it back, I poked around in the data for a bit. Most of it was encrypted gibberish but I found a Navpoint and got curious. So, when Scott arrived at Kadara, I took Vetra and Peebee on a trip to the Badlands and we found a massive storage building stocked to the roof with some very nasty weapons.”

“I don’t like where this is going.”

Clara blew her nose. “Believe me, me neither. And it gets worse. Out of nowhere a bunch of mercenaries appeared and cornered us. Vetra could barely escape and Peebe and me got caught. Turns out, those assholes are Kaetus’ people – you know, that idiot who was Sloane’s right hand when she was still ruling over the Port. However, he seems to be pretty pissed over Sloane’s end and the role the Initiative – that means me – played in it. I’m not sure what he’s up to but it’s bad and he’s too smart to have all his aces at one place. Too much risk to lose them when he caught me while my brother is on the planet. He must have known that the Collective and the Initiative would team up as they did. We recovered the lair and I’m pretty sure Reyes and Scott fight about who it belongs to while I’m talking with you.” She sighed. “So, tadaa! Never say it’s boring with me.”

“Nobody ever said that, Ryder”, Kesh replied and frowned. “Though I’m not sure if I understand why you’re angry at your brother and your boyfriend when they came to your rescue?”

“Oh, _that’s_ a funny story”, Clara growled. “Looks like my idiot of a partner hid from me that the Collective was hoarding said weapons – enough to equip an army – and my idiot of a brother shot him just because he was pissed at him in the middle of a fucking rescue mission. Which is why I yelled at both of those idiots, stole Reyes’ ship and came here.”

“Very mature.”

Clara shrugged. “I always am.”

“Alright, just let me summarize this”, Kesh slowly said as she walked past her desk. “You’re here because the Collective got their hands on a bunch of weapons—”

“Highly customized by the way.”

“… they have a bunch of weapons that a criminal—”

“Well, more like a _worse_ criminal. Kadara’s still a bit messed up, but it’s getting better.”

Kesh glared at Clara at her second interruption but kept talking. “… that Kaetus stole them until you stumbled into his lair, got caught, rescued but you suspect he already brought some of them to another place? Is that correct?”

“Yup. Great, isn’t it? Oh, and he might wage war against the Initiative. Happy Bad News Day!”

“Stop the sarcasm, Ryder! This isn’t funny.”

“No, it isn’t.”

She sighed and suddenly, Clara felt like the weight on her shoulders was just too much to bear. She was so tired. So fucking tired. For the last six years of her life – ignoring the six centuries in Cryo – she had spent her life dealing with messes she didn’t make. First it had been her father’s bullshit that ruined her career at the Alliance which made her join the Initiative and then it had been everybody else’s messes here in Andromeda. The Kett, the Outcasts, Tann … The list went on and on. Some part of Clara loved these adventures and liked to be busy, but there was also another part who just ached for some peace. Who really wanted to dream of that house in Kadara’s mountains. Of finally catching her breath and curling up in Reyes’ arms while the world could go nuts.

When Clara didn’t say anything else, Kesh growled silently. “Do you have a plan?”

“I wished.” Clara grimaced. “I was hoping you could come up with something that shields the Initiative but doesn’t include imprisoning or killing my partner. Or destroying Kadara.”

“You know that I have to tell Tann and the others about this?”, Kesh asked cautiously, and Clara rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, I know. Tell Tann ‘Fuck you!’ from me while you’re at it.”

“ _Ryder._ ”

“Alright, alright.” She stood up from her seat on the storage box. “I hoped you could tell them everything I just told you except for the thing with the Collective and Reyes. Maybe just tell them you got an anonymous tip?”

“They won’t believe that.”

“Yeah, but they won’t know for sure what really happened either. The Collective will move heaven and earth to find Kaetus as soon as possible – I will make sure they do – and you help me with cleaning up this mess. There is no point in giving Tann a reason to fight Kadara when Kaetus is far more dangerous. I’m only asking you to fix this silently behind everyone’s back.” Clara smirked. “You know, like we always do.”

“It’s a difference if I act like I oversee a few things a _Pathfinder_ does or if I hide things from my colleagues together with an _outsider_.”

“Oh, come on, Kesh. As if you could bear Tann’s stupid grin when he has a reason to take over Kadara.”

“Ryder, this is serious. I can’t just work behind everyone’s backs for you. Not anymore.” Kesh sighed. “Like it or not, you’re an outsider now. By your own choice.”

“By Tann’s choice”, Clara hissed. “We both know that I was willing to give everything for the Initiative. Except for one thing. And Tann really had the audacity to even demand that.”

“I know, but the result is the same.”

“Come on, Kesh.” Clara jumped from her seat on the storage boxes. “You know that I’m loyal to the Initiative. And you also know what risk I took to tell you all of this instead of just letting you run into this mess without a warning.”

Kesh fell silent, obviously fighting with herself what to make out of this situation. After a long pause, she sighed again and nodded. “Alright. I’ll do it. Just make sure that Scott and the Tempest Crew keep quiet, too. If this blows up, it’s not just my head Tann will want to have.”

Clara grinned and nodded as she walked to the Krogan and held out her hand. “Sure. So, we have a deal? You and me, cleaning up messes everybody else makes again?”

“Apparently.” Kesh scoffed, but took Clara’s hand and shook it. “Oh, and Ryder: This conversation never happened.”


	15. Homecoming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clara returns to Kadara and sorts a few things out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally wrapping up this first part of the plot :D Thanks for reading, everyone <3

Reyes was pacing through his apartment when Clara finally returned. The moment she had left Kesh’s office, the messages and calls from him had been pouring in and though she had ignored all of them, a part of her had been relieved to know that he was alright. The shot from Scott hadn’t been too bad – otherwise Clara wouldn’t have left – but actually knowing that he was well enough to panic about her whereabouts had been good to know.

“Hi.”

Clara stepped through the door and Reyes froze in his movements. His expression switched between relief and fear but finally the relief won, and a soft smile appeared on his lips.

“You’re back.”

“I’m back.” She slipped out of her jacket and let it drop onto the couch in the middle of the room, well-aware how she was stepping closer to him that way. “And I brought your ship back.”

“I don’t care about the ship.” Nervously, his eyes searched hers and locked. “I was afraid _you_ wouldn’t come back.”

Clara chuckled tiredly and closed the gap between them with slow steps until she was standing right in front of him. “You don’t know me very well if you think one fight could scare me off.”

“I know that I messed this up”, he replied and cautiously reached out for her hand. When Clara didn’t dodge his touch, Reyes smiled and pulled her closer. “And I’m sorry.”

“I know.” Clara sighed and wrapped her free arm around his back into a gentle hug. “And if Scott hadn’t shot you, I’d be probably far more furious with you, but when I saw you fall in that warehouse …” She shuddered and avoided his gaze by burying her head on his chest. “I don’t know when I felt a fear like that the last time.”

Clara could feel his chest vibrating with a soft chuckle below her cheek as Reyes pulled both arms around her and held her close that way. “Funnily, I didn’t care so much about being shot today but about how I feared you’d finally leave me.”

“Yeah, well, sadly, I happen to love you, you idiot of a shadow king, so you’ll have to put up with me for an indefinite period of time.” She grinned into the embrace. “But from now on, I want us to be a team, Reyes.”

She slowly pulled away from him a little to look him in the eyes. Reyes frowned and raised his brows. “That means?”

“I want to be part of the Collective. I’m done with all those secrets and our fights about things you can’t tell me because of it. And I’m done with always being dragged between you and the Initiative.” She sighed. “I will never do anything to harm the Initiative actively, but … We both know I chose my side when I dropped out of my Pathfinder job and came here.”

His eyes widened. “That’s … new”, he replied but in the next moment, the surprise vanished and turned into a smile as he leaned down to her. “But that talk of no more secrets actually sounds nice.”

Clara raised one hand to cup his cheek as a grin cracked around the corners of her lips. “Wait until I’ll rip your head off for something else you hid from me.”

He chuckled. “For you, I will endure it.”

“Good.” Clara pulled his head even closer to hers so that their lips were now only inches apart. “Because no matter how often I want to rip off you head, at the end of the day, this is the place where I want to be. Right here. With you.”

“I am all yours”, he replied hoarsely. “Always.”

Clara smiled and didn’t say anything but finally closed the distance between them for a deep, hungry kiss. His lips reacted instinctively to her touch, immediately parting as his tongue searched hers. Clara moaned softly into the kiss and let her hands wander up his neck until her fingers tangled in his hair. Reyes chuckled and pulled away for a second but then just started to plant kisses down her neck and collarbone until he had to bow to keep going even further down. Suddenly, he let go of her and winced while muttering a curse as he reached with his healthy arm for the wounded shoulder.

Clara blinked a few times returning to reality and finally frowned in worry. “You’re okay?”

“Yeah. I just should be more careful with that shoulder.” Reyes grimaced as he rubbed the tensed muscles around the wound. “Sorry.”

The worry washed away and was replaced by anger when Clara remembered why Reyes was wounded in the first place. She frowned and clenched her fists. “Scott will regret this”, she hissed. “Believe me.”

Reyes laughed softly and pulled her close again. “You know I love you partly because you’re one of the most passionate people I know but maybe you should just let it be. You already yelled at him in front of half of his crew right after he rescued you. That should be enough.” He leaned his forehead against hers. “And I might not like it but shooting me was exactly the kind of impulsive Ryder-behavior I also know from you.” He grinned. “And to be honest, as long as it’s not directed at me, it’s another reason I love you.”

Clara chuckled and raised her brows. “ _Somebody_ grovels very hard today.”

“Yeah, somebody has a lot to make up for.” Reyes leaned closed to whisper into her ear. “And also, the same somebody might die for having you in his bed. Preferably naked. Regarding everything else … Well, I have _some_ ideas.”

“Is that so?” Clara grinned and shifted a little, moving her body even closer to his. “Consider me intrigued but I think I need to know more about this offer.”

“It wouldn’t be much of a surprise if I told you, would it?” One of his hands wandered under her shirt and started tracing her spine. Clara shivered. “But let’s say maybe I would remind you of one of the reasons they call me ‘Shena’ … Or how _skilled_ my hands can be.”

“Oh?”, Clara replied tilting her head as if she would have to think about the offer while simultaneously moving backwards towards the bedroom, pulling him with her. “I guess that’s something you’ll have to prove to me.”

Reyes grinned, lust flickering in his eyes. “I hoped you’d say something like that.”

 

Later when they were finally lying next to each other on the bed, both slowly catching their breath again, Clara placed her head on his chest, carefully looking out for the bandage around his wounded shoulder, and chuckled. “Don’t you think you’re always just getting away with sex whenever you’re messing things up.”

“I think my reputation regarding that speaks for itself”, Reyes replied, and Clara could literally hear the grin on his lips in his voice. “Besides, you already told me that you forgive me _before_ I had my hand in your pants.” He planted a quick kiss on her scalp and put an arm around her shoulders. “And I would have never insulted you by suggesting it would just need sex to get you on my good side again when it was me who made a mistake.”

“Good.” Clara smiled. “Because you know … I still want the whole package of our relationship. You and me, we will probably fight again and again just as we always do. And no matter whether it’s me or you who is or isn’t at fault … I want to talk things through. Always.” She sat up a little to lean over him and gently tracing the shape of his cheekbones for a moment as her expression softened even more. “It actually really odd, because everyone else told me from the moment I met you I shouldn’t and I really wanted to agree with them, but … I love you, Reyes. You can’t ever know how much. It amazes and frightens even me every day.”

Below Clara, Reyes smiled and lifted one hand to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. “Oh, I think I have an idea”, he replied. “You know that I would tear this whole world apart and place it to your feet if you’d ask me to. I never loved somebody like that. So …”

“Intense?”

“Yeah.” He chuckled. “The strange thing is … If you would have told me two years ago that right now, in this moment, I would lie in bed with somebody and not thinking about how I could get away from them but how I could keep them here with me forever and really mean it … Well, I wouldn’t have believed you.”

“Well, if you would have told me that I would fall for a third-rate smuggler, I would probably have believed you but assumed that he’d break my heart and not be the one person keeping me sane while everybody else drives me crazy.”

“Third-rate smuggler?” Reyes grimaced theatrically. “I’m deeply wounded.”

“You do realize that I just told you how you’re preserving my sanity, right? And you really wanna focus on the smuggler-part?” With a broad grin, Clara leaned down again and gave him another kiss. “But alright. You’re definitely at least a second-rate smuggler.”

Reyes laughed. “Thank you.”

He lifted his head to pull her into another kiss. When they finally pulled away from each other, Clara curled up on his side again and sighed. “As much as I hate to destroy this moment, I need to tell you something.”

Reyes gently kissed her hair and pulled her closer into his arms. “What’s on your mind?”

“When I left you with Scott in the badlands, I went to the Nexus to warn the Initiative about Kaetus.” She could feel how Reyes tensed below her but kept talking. “I spoke to Kesh and made a deal. She will keep you and the Collective out of this mess and we will help her to catch that turian bastard.”

“And she agreed to that?”

The surprise in his voice mad Clara grin. “Took me a little effort to convince her, but yeah. But we’ll both have to work with her _and_ keep our mouths shut for now.”

“Is that why you suddenly want to join the Collective?”

“Partly”, she admitted. “I meant it when I said that I picked my side when I told Tann to go and fuck himself but even if I didn’t – We don’t have the luxury of not having me involved in this anymore.” She let out a deep breath. “I can’t pull strings for you like before, Reyes. And I don’t know how long it will take until my personal glory wears off and my presence here alone won’t be reason enough to keep Tann and the Initiative their hands off Kadara.”

“I know.” Below Clara, Reyes sighed deeply. “But you know that at some point, I will have to push my luck again.”

“Yeah.” For a second, she closed her eyes. “Just promise me, that I’ll be at your side when you do it.”

“Deal.” He shifted a little to kiss her but groaned when he accidentally pulled his bandaged shoulder below Clara’s body. She immediately sat up, lifting her weight from his wound as her face darkened.

“Is Scott still in the Port?”

Reyes rolled his eyes and reached out for her with his healthy arm. “It’s fine”, he tried to calm her. “I’ve had worse wounds than that.”

“Yeah, that doesn’t change that I’m fucking mad at my brother.”

“Oh, don’t believe I’m not mad at him for shooting me.” Reyes laughed softly. “But you and Scott, you’re inseparable. Yell at him all you want, but in the end, you’ll have to forgive him.” A tired smirk spread over his face. “Though, I have to admit, it’s nice seeing you protective like that.”

“It’s not just that he shot you”, she replied and sighed. “He crossed a line. Tried to make a decision for me that wasn’t his to make.” Clara let herself sink into the sheets next to Reyes again. “He behaved like our father would have. No offense, but that’s worse than even just hurting you.”

“I know.” Reyes pulled her close again. “And he probably knows that, too.” A deep, relaxed breath left Clara’s lungs as he planted a small kiss on her scalp. “Just sleep over it, _mi amor_.”

She didn’t reply anything but didn’t protest when Reyes pulled the blanket over them. Soon, his breaths grew deep and steady as he fell asleep at her side. For Clara, it took longer to calm her angry thoughts but finally, she drifted away into restless dreams.

It was still early when Clara awoke again. Reyes was still snoring beside he, his healthy arm wrapped around her middle even after the night. Clara on the other hand, was as restless as the evening before. Her anger had haunted her even in her dreams and now it manifested in her chest as a tight knot of frustration. With a soft sigh, she pulled Reyes’ arm around her aside, careful not to wake him, and climbed out of the bed. She was still collecting her clothes when she decided what she would do next.

It was time for a conversation with her brother.

 

Clara got dressed and hushed through the still empty streets to Kadara’s Port. Shadows from the city’s unsteady lights flickered over the large silhouette of the Tempest as she approached the ship. For a moment, Clara feared Scott might have changed the access codes since he had taken command but much to her relief, the doors just glided aside when she entered the numbers. Clara slipped inside, stepping into the place that had been her home not so long ago. Her brother probably was still sleeping at this hour which could be her advantage because it meant he wouldn’t have the energy yet to fight with her before she would have made her point. With a small smile, Clara headed towards the Pathfinder’s quarters and knocked at the door. Sam probably had registered her presence anyway and if her knock didn’t wake Scott, the AI would any second.

On the other side of the door, Clara could hear muffled voices and a moment later, the door opened.

“For fuck’s sake, if it’s not important, I’ll …” Scott stopped himself and his eyes widened when he saw his sister standing in front of him. “C … Wait, how did you get in here?”

“You should change your codes.” She smirked a little and tilted her head. “Do you have a moment to talk?”

“Oh … yeah … sure.” He quickly returned inside leaving the door open so that Clara could see Cora’s slim shape curled up in the bed. She suppressed a grin and made a mental note to remind Vetra that she had won her bet when Scott returned with a shirt in his hands that he just was pulling over his head. “Coffee in the kitchen?”

Clara nodded and followed him when he stepped through the door and closed the door to his bedroom behind him. In the kitchen, Clara silently leaned against the counter while Scott took care of the promised coffee.

“So … Are you still mad at me?”, he finally asked when handing her a warm cup. “Or has your fury cooled off?”

Clara scoffed. “Cooled? Yeah. Not mad anymore? No so much.”

“Listen, C, I’m sorry. Okay?” He sighed. “That was an asshole thing to do, I get it. But I can’t do much more than apologize anyway.”

“I don’t care whether it was an asshole thing to do, it was a dad-like thing to do, Scott.”

“I know.” He grimaced. “That’s worse.”

“Exactly.”

The siblings fell silent for a moment, both staring at the cups in their hands until Scott spoke again.

“How’s Reyes?”, he asked, and Clara gave him an unimpressed smile knowing very well that he was just asking to get on her good side again.

“He’s alright”, she replied. “And surprisingly forgiving. In fact, he was the one who reminded me that you’re an idiot but my brother and that I eventually will have to forgive you because I love you.”

An amused smirk cracked over Scott’s lips. “I guess he’s not as bad as I thought.”

Clara scoffed. “Oh, he is far better than you give him credit.” She paused and sighed deeply. “Listen, Scott, we have bigger problems than that right now, but I never want to see you pull shit like that ever again. You’re my brother and one of the most important people in my life. I need you to have my back and not to try making decisions for me that are none of your business.”

“Understood.” He nodded. “And again: I’m sorry.”

“Good.” She smiled at him. “Because I met with Kesh and we have a lot of stuff to do if we want to prevent Kaetus of waging war over the whole cluster.”


	16. Kiss with a fist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reyes is in trouble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Timejump ahead! Oh, and also new drama :D

_3 Months later._

 

Clara’s fist hit Reyes so hard, he stumbled a few steps back, waving with his arms to keep himself from falling. Pain flashed through his nose and blood started to pour over his face as he lost his balance anyway and crashed into a table behind him.

“Asshole!”, she yelled loud enough that everyone in the small bar in the middle of nowhere on Elaaden turned to them. “I risked everything for you! Hell, I even left the fucking Initiative for you and that’s how you repay me?”

“Yeah, well … I guess that was a mistake.” Reyes scoffed and casually brushed the blood on his face off with the back of his hand. “Maybe you shouldn’t have stolen my Port from me if you’d wanted me to be on your good side.”

“You filthy, little shit, I should ...” She made a step to charge forward and probably hit him again, but Vetra quickly grabbed her arms and held her back.

“What the fuck, Vetra?!” Clara struggled against her friend’s grip but didn’t manage to escape. “Let me go and kill that rat already!”

“Not here, not today”, Vetra replied calmly and started dragging Clara towards the door while Reyes slowly rose from the ground. Just before the two women left Vetra gave Reyes one last glare. “Bit of advice, Vidal: Hands off Kadara. Next time, I won’t pull her away from you but shoot you myself.”

A cruel laugh left Reyes’ throat and he made a vulgar gesture at the leaving women. “Feel free to try.”

Vetra hissed something but pushed Clara through the door and left. Reyes who was still trying to stop the bleeding of his nose cursed and, as everyone started to lose interest, made his way to the bar.

“Something strong. And some ice for my nose.”

The bartender, a tall Asari, arched a brow but obeyed. She handed him a bag full of ice cubes wrapped in a towel and turned around to get the drink. Grateful for something to ease his pain, Reyes pressed the ice to his face.

“So, what was that about?” The bartender tilted her head as she placed a glass with suspiciously blue contents before him.

“What was what about?”, he asked without looking at her.

“That scene I just witnessed?” She chuckled. “The woman? Who was she?”

“Oh, that …” Reyes grimaced and lifted the ice from his face to grab the drink before him. “That was Clara Ryder, former human Pathfinder, fucking dangerous and apparently ...” He wrinkled his nose and drew his glass to his lips. “… she’s also my ex now.”


End file.
